Pokemon Blue Unlocke Nuzlocke
by Galalithial
Summary: Follow Chris as he embarks on his unwanted Pokemon Gym Challenge, discovers the value of pokemon, and unlocks the hearts of those he encounters. It's a Nuzlocke run, using a set of special rules known as the Unlocke rules that are described in the Prologue. This is a fully in-Universe story, not just a Let's Play in text format.
1. Prologue

**Author Note:** It's... been a massively long time since I've posted anything on this website... But, I want to start writing, again, and I've recently gotten back into Nuzlocke runs, so here we are! If you don't know what a Nuzlocke run is, Google it, you'll receive far better information than I would give you in this here note, and I sorta explain them in text down below, though it may be hard to understand because it's 'in character.' This a start of a series, hopefully, covering at least one game from each generation. Ideally, every story in the series will start with this same Prologue. Some games may be skipped simply to avoid monotony, such as FireRed/LeafGreen. Don't really have a desire to do those ones. But, yeah! Welcome to the Unlocke series! The additional rules of an Unlocke run are also explained in text, but you can try Googling it if you want. Full disclosure, found the rules on DeviantArt. I'm not going to do a lot of Author's Notes, and if/when I do, they will probably be to try and explain something. Anyway, on with the show!

Enjoy!

* * *

There has been a shift in the world. The International Pokemon League has decided that something needs to change. Too many times have literal children swept through the Gym Challenge, dominated the Elite Four, and regularly trounced Champions, new and established, with relative ease. Rampant use of restorative medicines, steroids, Technical Machines, and short-term performance enhancers have left the Pokemon League challenges, across the world, in shambles.

There have been multiple cases of young trainers starting their challenge, and becoming champions, often with only one or two pokemon, in a matter of hours. Something was inherently wrong with the system. The government had to step in and provide some oversight. They started regulating.

The first thing they did was label rampant pokemon hunting as poaching. No longer could young trainers hoard box upon box of Tauros, or strive to collect one of each species, relegating them to a shallow existence of pixelated data to never leave the PC system. Now, you were only allowed a single capture from each inhabited area, and only the first you came across. This helped to preserve ecosystems, as well as demotivate trophy hunting.

The second thing they did was further expand the power of the Badge system. Beyond the use of powerful Hidden Machines, that acted as gatekeepers to dangerous areas from ill-equipped trainers, and even the pheromone induced control it enacted over powerful pokemon. Now, Badges also acted as licenses, raising the permissions of individual trainers. The new allowances went as such:

• Pokemon are not allowed to evolve until the first badge is earned. If broken, all evolved pokemon are required to be boxed until a second Gym Badge is earned.

• TMs cannot be used until the second badge is earned. If broken, the offending pokemon must be boxed until the third Gym Badge is earned.

• Healing items cannot be used in battle until the third badge is earned. If broken, all healing items in the trainer's possession are confiscated

• Pokemon cannot hold items until the fourth badge is earned. If broken, the offending item is immediately confiscated immediately. The offending pokemon must be boxed until the fourth Gym Badge is earned.

• The day care cannot be used until the fifth badge is earned. If broken, the offending pokemon must remain in the Day Care's possession indefinitely.

• Fishing is disallowed until the sixth badge is earned. If broken, the encountered pokemon counts towards the area's encounter and may not be captured, losing the encounter for the trainer. If the trainer had already caught their first pokemon in the area, that pokemon must be boxed until the seventh Gym Badge is earned

• Vitamins/Super Training cannot be used until the seventh badge is earned. If broken, the offending pokemon is immediately boxed until the eighth Gym Badge is acquired.

• After the eighth badge is earned, ONE future death can be revived. If broken, the offending pokemon is to be immediately released.

The eighth rule changed once. It once allowed the use of Rare Candies. But, the heightened restrictions caused a severe uptick in the intensity of competition. A handful of nefarious trainers realized the easiest way to eliminate their opponents from the challenge, with the new Poaching Laws, was to kill their opponents' pokemon. The new laws made it far more difficult to recuperate your team. It was, of course, outlawed, but it only took a single, high-profile individual to support the practice to start swaying public opinion. As such, a new law was enacted, The White Out Law. If you lost an entire team, you were deemed too reckless and inadequate as a trainer to be allowed to own pokemon, and your license was revoked and all pokemon confiscated.

All these new rules and regulations required increased security and observation. Rangers were stationed in every town, even having huts in high volume routes, to be the police of these new laws. A new badge case was issued that doubled as your Trainer License, so it could be updated with each new badge earned. And, finally, pokedex's were mass produced by the International Pokemon League with a suite of new security features, including live tracking and observation of trainers, their battles, and their pokemon.

Thus, the new system was enacted, trainers adapted, and the world moved on.

Here's the story of one of those trainers, embarking on this new world, unaware of the hardships in store...


	2. Chapter 1

The morning dawned like any other. The world does not shift its procession for anyone. Not even on their birthday.

This is where Chris found himself, facing the ceiling, trying his best to calm the growing feeling of excitement and trepidation in his chest, hoping the world had stopped progressing and this day hadn't come. Chris had never been one to look forward to the day he would receive his Trainer's License, not like his peers did, discussing their starters and goals. Chris was far more content to avoid pokemon. They were dangerous after all, and with that in mind, he pulled himself out of bed, and withdrew his spare Potion from his bedroom PC. Chris prepared himself to spend his day out of town, avoiding his fated coming of age ceremony as long as possible. Children from all families receive their licenses when they turn fifteen, getting a starter pokemon from their parents, or Professor Oak if their family couldn't supply one. Chris would rather be out in the fields.

He descended the stairs to find his mother had a beautiful breakfast laid out, a four course meal affair with waffles, berries, fruit, and vegetables. There was even a stack of pancakes, 'Happy Birthday' carefully scrawled in syrup and framed by fifteen candles. He ignored the empty place setting across from his mother and sat at her right. 

"Good morning," He greeted. His mother started a bit, having been lost in thought, but she smiled when she looked up and stood to serve her son. Chris objected, "I can get it, Mom, you don't have to."

"Nonsense," her voice was soft and warm, "It's your birthday, Chris, and you'll be leaving soon, the least I can do is make sure you're well fed." Chris relaxed back into his seat and muttered a quiet, but earnest thank you.

The meal passed in idle, comfortable chatter. They both avoided talking about what the day meant, or what it meant for most kids of Chris' age. In the weeks leading up to it, Chris had remained stalwartly indignant. Oak could give Chris a starter, if he really needed to, but Chris didn't want to be a trainer. His mother needed him. It could be lonely at home.

Chris cleared his plate and moved to the door. His mom smiled and wished him a quiet, reluctant happy birthday as she avoided eye contact, and Chris stopped at the doorway.

"Right... All boys leave home someday. It said so on TV." She sounded distant. Chris headed out without responding.

The lab loomed large, in town, by far the biggest building in sleepy little Pallet. It was a good landmark, and Chris headed directly away from it. The gates to Pallet Town made a tenuous barrier between civilization and wilderness. A mere handful of feet across the threshold the grass grew wild, broken only by the winding paths of the brave who headed north to get to the shop in Viridian City. Pokemon lived in that thick grass, making nests deep into the foliage, away from the paths. That didn't make it safe, though. At any time, an individual pokemon may be traveling near the path, or even using the path itself for its ease. It's always a possibility to get caught on the wrong side of a rattata or pidgey.

The smell of thick grass and pokemon musk wafted on waves of wind that rippled over the grass into town. He loved being out in nature, no matter how dangerous. He found it more peaceful. Besides, he'd never met a pokemon he couldn't avoid, he reasoned. And, that was where Chris was headed for the day.

"Stop!" A panicked shriek stopped Chris short, mid-step. He started to turn, only to be tackled into the dirt. He landed hard, sliding slightly with the new weight thrown upon him.

It was easy to see who the assailant was. The one and only, famous world-wide, Professor Oak. Oak wasn't looking at Chris as he threw a glare into Oak's face, though. Oak's eyes were firmly planted into the grass only inches away. Chris began to protest, only to be silenced by an angry hiss. Frustrated, but curious, Chris followed Oak's intense glare.

In that grass, inches from Chris' face, was an incredibly large, ruffled pidgey. It was one of the largest Chris had seen, ever. One could normally hold a pidgey easily in both hands, but this beast was perhaps twice as big as any other pidgey in the area. And, it was pissed.

Oak began to shimmy crawl back, away from the pidgey, slowly. The bird pokemon ruffled further and chirped in protest, but Oak maintained his glare and continued to retreat. Only several feet after the pidgey had become indistinguishable from the surrounding grass did Oak heave a tired sigh. He offered Chris a hand after he stood himself.

"You have no business heading out there without a pokemon of your own. In general. But, especially not now, it's the season for the pidgey of this region to lay their eggs. They're exceptionally territorial and aggressive. Thankfully, I could grab you, and my methods were drastic enough to startle the bird before it could attack." Oak brushed himself off as he lectured. His coat didn't look like he'd gotten dirty, but that always seemed to be a particular detail of Oak. His white lab coat was always crisp and clean. He was staring at Chris, now, confused.

"Hold on a second..." he pinched his chin, "Chris... right? You're due for a pokemon soon, aren't you?" Chris sighed in resignation.

"Today, actually." He said, with enough spite to almost sound like determination. Oak nodded.

"Happy birthday. Follow me." And, with little fanfare, Oak turned and started walking back to the lab. Chris looked wistfully back at the tall grass one last time, considering a mad dash past the territorial pokemon, before surrendering to the inevitable and following.

Oak marched brusquely back to his lab, trailing Chris behind him. He didn't look back once, simply assuming that his charge would not waver. He was correct, but he also failed to see the growing terror and discomfort in Chris' expression. This was, in many ways, Chris' worst fears come true.

The lab was orderly, at first glance, a single assistant working in sight, just in front and to the left of two impressive bookcases. While the research section made up the entryway, they held the meat of the lab behind the two floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

The back side of the lab made up two-thirds of the building. A scattered collection of lab tables and equipment ranging from glassware to massive machines. Chaos dominated the space, save for an oasis, dead center, at the back. Interestingly, the only section of the back lab that was visible from the entryway. Chris mused that it was not a coincidence.

The space was not empty, another boy, about Chris' age and very familiar, was waiting impatiently. Foot tapping, arms crossed, head whipping back and forth in agitated boredom. An... impressive head of auburn red hair largely overshadowed a black polo and jeans. It was simultaneously animated and stagnant. It seemed to stand of its own volition, reaching off the pre-teen's head like so many quills, yet also seeming to not move at all as the head turned to reveal an angry, smug young man.

"Gramps!" His voice was coarse and piercing from youth, but full of the arrogance of someone who'd been handed everything. "What's the big idea making me wait all this time?!"

Oak didn't flinch, but his face seemed to scrunch slightly, like something didn't quite smell right in the room.

Finally, he said, "What was your name, again?"

Chris had to cough violently to cover his laughter as Oak's apparent grandson grew cherry red in rage.

"H-how dare you?!" He seemed to silently cycle through multiple choice phrases before stuttering out the question.

"What?" Oak didn't seem perturbed, moving around the young man to get to his desk, "It's not my fault my kids choose to be particularly... prolific, and even less my fault that they seem to think that sending their kids to their aunt every time one of them turns fifteen is particularly convenient for either of us! Now, what was it? Gary? Clyde? Blue?"

"That's just a color!"

"I guess you'd be surprised."

"It's Yari!" He finally shouted. Oak, in the meantime, had arranged three pokeballs on a nearby table.

"That's it, Yari. Leave it to my lineage to come up with the stupidest names..." The last of that was either too low for Yari to hear, or he simply ignored it, tired of his own outrage.

"Whatever, I'm just here to get a pokemon, anyway." Yari said, returning to his arm-crossed, disinterested stance.

"Patience, Yari, in due time. Chris gets the first pick." Oak said. He turned to Chris and began to speak again when Yari shouted out with another complaint.

"What! That's not fair, I was here first! Why should he get to choose first, huh?" The impatient rage had returned, Yari was nearly shaking, and Chris could see the research assistant peaking around the bookcase to watch.

"Because," Oak responded calmly, "You are a spoiled brat that needs to learn that not everything is simply given to you, and that shouting rudely rarely gets you what you want." He continued to stare Yari down until his grandson shifted his gaze to Chris, huffed, and turned away once more. Oak nodded at that and returned his attention to Chris. Chris stared at Yari.

If Yari wanted to go first, he could, Chris couldn't care less, at the moment. He raised an eyebrow at Yari in quiet question. Yari looked at him for a long moment, then shook his head with a sort of devious smirk.

"Heh, I don't need to be greedy, like you. Go ahead and choose." The smirk persisted. Chris shrugged and turned back to Oak, who wearily continued.

"As I was saying, I have three pokemon for you to choose from today. A bulbasaur, the seed pokemon, a Grass and Poison-type. A charmander, the lizard pokemon, a Fire-type. And, a squirtle, the tiny turtle pokemon, a Water-type. Choose wisely, for this pokemon may be your closest companion."

Chris didn't want any of them. He still held a certain distaste of the idea of owning a pokemon and what that meant. He looked up at Oak, who prompted once again to pick. It seemed he had no choice. He looked over the pokeballs again, reading the small plaques and examining the images. Finally, Chris realized his eyes kept getting drawn back to the squirtle, the tiny turtle. He thought the depiction was... cuter than the others, and something about the shell he found relatable.

He reached forward and picked up the pokeball.

"Finally!" Yari stomped forward, and without hesitation snatched up the bulbasaur's pokeball. "Guess I'll take this one, then!" He sneered at Chris as Oak heaved a sigh.

"Well," Oak said, "would you like to name your new pokemon?" Yari shrugged.

"Not really, don't see the point." Oak glared at him, but quickly looked back at Chris. Chris thought about it a moment.

"Bartles." Chris said firmly. Oak nodded, and Chris could have sworn he heard something muttered about Oak family naming traditions. Oak approached and held out a rectangular device with a strap.

"Your Trainer's License. Put it on whichever arm you like, then power it on. It will prick your skin to get a blood sample, attuning to you personally, so don't be surprised by that. I'll activate it, and log Bartles. Then everything else will be essentially automated. It will keep track of your pokemon party, credits earned, catch limits on routes, badges... it even has this handy slot for your six party pokemon."

As he spoke, Chris slid the device up his forearm and turned it on, feeling the promised puncture. It felt like a sort of punctuation mark, sealing his fate. Oak fiddled with it for a moment, snapping Bartles' ball into the first of a set of six hemispherical slots, and inputting some administrators code to assign the new name. When he finished, Chris took the opportunity to examine it closer.

It wasn't bulky, sitting sleekly to his forearm, the strap a clean nylon broken by a metal strip along the inner forearm that held the ball. The face of it was a screen, and with a tap it displayed his picture, an ID Number, his credit count, and a set of eight grayed slots. Tapping on the blank pockets caused the screen to pop free, revealing the device opened like a book, displaying 8 slots roughly half an inch across, presumably for badges.

Chris looked around and realized no one was paying him much mind, Oak arguing with Yari about his own License, so Chris turned to leave. It was just as he reached the bookcases that he was stopped.

"Wait!" Yari shouted, "It's Chris, right? Let's check out our pokemon! Come on, I'll take you on!"

Chris was shaking his head in denial as Yari approached; a loud ping from his wrist distracted him. When he looked, his License was flashing. A bright exclamation mark appeared on the screen, only to be replaced by a message:

Yari wants to fight!

Chris put his hands up in surrender and started to walk away.

"Don't do that!" Oak barked, suddenly, and Chris froze. "You have to accept any challenge from an opposing trainer the first time they issue it. You are entered into a Region wide ladder tournament, after all." His eyes narrowed as Chris continued to edge backwards.

"Trust me, Chris, neither you, nor your mother, can afford the penalty for refusing." Finally, Chris stopped moving.

Did that mean they tied his finances to his mom's? Maybe, he didn't have any sort of account of his own. He tapped his License. His ID popped up, and he pointedly looked at the credit count. Two thousand. He definitely did not have two thousand credits to his name. He had never thought this was possible.

Then, a second, more severe realization hit Chris. His mother only had two thousand left to her name. She had never let him know how destitute they had become. He suddenly felt sick, but refused to allow himself to throw up, not knowing exactly how costly that birthday breakfast could have been. Chris looked up, nausea surging as his eyes settled on the casual smugness of Yari, Oak behind him, understanding, but resigned. Oak shook his head in another warning.

Chris didn't see much choice. He reached for the pokeball.

"Go, bulbasaur!" With a flash of white, a gray-green little monster was staring Chris down. He fingered the pokeball, clicking the button to expand it. Chris could feel a coldness spreading through his chest, but with it a strange sense of rage. Indignant at the injustice forced upon him.

"Go! Bartles!" His voice carried more enthusiasm than he knew he could muster. And, then there he was. A tiny, blue turtle, looking back at Chris with bright red eyes and a smile. His License pinged again; a picture of Bartles and a stat read out, and, at the bottom, a list of moves overtook the screen. Only two with two blank spots below them.

Tackle or Tail Whip. One of those sounded much more helpful than the other.

"Bartles, tackle it!" Chris decided he felt ridiculous immediately, but Bartles leaped into action, dropping to all fours and charging at the bulbasaur.

"Move, you idiot!" Yari shouted, but it came a moment too late. The bulbasaur tried to jump away, but Bartles swung his tail, pivoted hard, and slammed into the unfortunate creature's side. "Tackle it right back!" Yari's voice sounded more shrill than at first.

"Don't give him an inch, Bartles!" And they started to dance.

Bartles was clearly faster than Yari's bulbasaur, managing to land another head first hit before the bulbasaur found its feet and used its own head to slam right back. Bartles took the hit on his shell, retracted his limbs, and rolled away. Arms and legs popped free in stance and he charged right back in. The hit had barely fazed his natural armor.

"Bulbasaur, use Growl!" Yari cried. It confused Chris. That hardly sounded threatening, and Bartles was already moving in for another hit.

The bulbasaur squared up, the bud on its back hoisted forward. Bartles closed in, head retracting into his shell to shoot out again for the hit. Yari's bulbasaur surged forward, opening its mouth and releasing an off-toned, guttural sound. The air vibrated, visible shock waves radiated from the bulbasaur's mouth. Chris felt it. He could see it, the subtle flinch of Bartles head further into his shell. He hit, but not quite as hard as before.

Somehow, a Growl, as impactful as it was, a simple Growl had made Bartles... weaker. Chris glanced up and saw Yari grinning triumphantly. Manically.

The fight drew more even, Bartles couldn't hit as hard, but the bulbasaur could hurt Bartles as easily. It dragged on, weak hit for ineffective hit, one after the other. Bruises started to show, blood started to seep. Finally, Chris watched the end come. Bartles missed. Bartles missed and the bulbasaur happily took the opportunity to hit him in the back of the knees.

"Yes!" Yari cried, fist raised, "Finish it!"

The battered bulbasaur gave a weak, but triumphant, cry and coiled its legs to spring. An idea came to Chris, unbidden, unwelcome. A last resort.

"Bartles! Withdraw!" And he did, tucked his whole body into his shell just as the bulbasaur leaped, clearly aligned to fly right over Bartles. "Now, Tackle!"

And Bartles sprang from his shell, straight up, head colliding with the bulbasaur's throat. The bulbasaur missed, and Bartles' hit was critical.

And, Chris realized he had won.

Bartles was panting, bruised and bloody. The bulbasaur was not moving. It didn't appear to be breathing.

"What?! Unbelievable! I picked the wrong pokemon!" Yari cried out in frustration. Chris snapped his head up and stared at the petulant boy, stomping his foot and glaring at the fallen body. Yari trudged towards it. His foot reeled back. Chris started to lunge.

Oak was there, grabbing Yari by the hair and yanking him backwards, throwing him to the ground. Without breaking stride, Oak scooped the limp creature into his arms and carried it back to one of his tables. Machinery set to life as Oak marched back to the fallen Yari to snatch the bulbasaur's pokeball. Returning, he put the bulbasaur back in its ball and slotted the expanded ball into his machine that immediately started glowing. He turned and motioned at Chris.

"Put Bartles away and bring him over, I can patch him up as well." Chris didn't argue, acting quickly. He marched past Yari without making eye contact, glad for his silence for a change. Bartles' pokeball slotted in next to the bulbasaur and started to glow in turn.

"It's a good thing," Oak mumbled, "That the League regulations have a measure of leniency before you receive your first pokeballs. I'm allowed to ensure that this bulbasaur does not die... But," and he looked over his shoulder, at Yari, "I can't legally take this poor pokemon back..."

They sat in silence while the healing was done. It was only a handful of minutes. When the machine beeped, and the glow subsided, Oak pulled the pokeballs, handing Bartles back to Chris.

"Another fortunate point in the lapse of League oversight, what you did was technically illegal." Chris immediately pictured the prone body, but Oak continued, "Of course your pokemon can know over four moves at any given time. They're incredibly intelligent creatures. But, the League restricts what is permissible in battle, even organizing move lists that they allow you to update as your pokemon grows stronger."

Chris thought about that for a moment, imagining the blank slots in Bartles' move list. "That's stupid." He finally said, but Oak merely shrugged and walked away, over to Yari.

He held the bulbasaur, safe in its pokeball, back just a moment, staring meaningfully at his grandson; finally, he handed the ball to the boy. Yari stayed there just a couple seconds, staring at the ball in his hand. Then he grunted and turned, walking out of the lab. He called over his shoulder.

"Okay! I'll make my pokemon fight to toughen it up! Chris! Gramps! Smell you later!" And, then, he was gone. Oak and Chris stared at the door, then at each other, and Oak sighed.

"I don't know what in the hell that was supposed to mean. That kid is gonna kill a lot of pokemon." He looked back to Chris, "There is an upside to all that nonsense. Check your ID, again."

Chris robotically lifted his wrist to check. It displayed new words.

Bartles grew to level 6! Chris defeated Yari! Chris got $175 for winning!

Chris stared for a moment, waiting for the hollow shock to pass, then it hit him.

He had won. He won, and it felt great. And, he earned money for winning! Suddenly, not just his, but his mother's bank account was a little less destitute. It was only a meal's worth, but it was quick, and relatively easy to get. He could make a lot of money pretty quickly like this.

With a snap, Chris realized what he had just decided. He would be a trainer. He was going on a journey.

He would have to tell his mom.


	3. Chapter 2

The walk back to his house was a slow trudge, each step brought Chris towards what was so long a hangman's noose, but Chris now saw it as his best way up and out of a bad situation. He had a pokemon and his family was dangerously poor. One problem solved the other. And, he would have to leave his mother.

Chris found the front door felt heavier than usual.

His mom was where he had left her, though the table had been cleared and the TV was on. The light silhouetted her, making the living room feel dark despite the late morning sun outside. Chris moved to open the blinds. When the light flooded the room, only then did his mom stir.

Chris couldn't tell what she was watching, but just before she turned off the screen there was a scene of four kids walking away on railroad tracks. He felt the momentum of fate sending him down a similar path. Chris decided he had to take the initiative.

"Mom," again, he found his voice to be stronger than he thought he could make it, "I just got a pokemon from Professor Oak... Do you want to meet him?" Chris' mother turned slowly, like she couldn't remember where she was, and looked at him. She smiled lightly.

"Sure," she said, "What's his name?"

"Bartles," Chris told her as he snapped out the pokeball, tossing it forward gently. It felt so natural, even if he'd only done it now twice. "He's a squirtle, the Tiny Turtle pokemon." Bartles appeared in his customary flash, shaking himself off and letting out a small, happy cry. Chris was relieved to see that all damage from the fight earlier seemed to be gone.

His mom didn't flinch when he appeared. She actually seemed to perk up, a bit, leaning forward to inspect Bartles. Slowly, but firmly, she held out a hand towards him. Bartles looked at her, then at Chris curiously. Chris gave a cautious nod, and Bartles approached his mother. She seemed to know just what to do, sliding her hand over Bartles' nose, making him close his eyes, and continuing atop his head to finally scratch at the base of his neck, causing him to release a strange, gurgling growl, almost as if he was purring.

Chris was taken aback.

"You... you know how to handle pokemon?" Chris asked. His mother nodded, her smile a little warmer.

"It's been a long time since I've worked with pokemon, but, yes, I used to be quite capable of handling pokemon." She continued to pet Bartles a moment longer. He chirped happily when she stopped, nuzzling into her leg before walking over to Chris with a closed eye smile.

When Chris looked up, his mom was smiling, tears in her eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and closed it again.

"Chris," His mom spoke with authority, "you should take a quick rest. Head up to your room and relax, play with Bartles, get to know him better." Chris wanted to protest, but, again, he held his tongue and nodded. He lifted Bartles and started up the stairs. He looked back once. His mother was looking out the window. The sunlight left her in silhouette.

Chris played with Bartles for a bit before lying down to take a quick nap. He did feel drained. It had been a long day, all before noon. Bartles snuggled close and retracted his limbs and tail into his shell. Chris thought he should pull his head in, too, but instead Bartles left it out to rest on Chris' arm.

They were both roused by a rapping on Chris' door. His mother's voice filtered through.

"Come down when you're ready, I have one more birthday gift for you." Chris could hear her retreat down the stairs. He stayed in bed a moment longer, but a shift caused Bartles to pop free from his shell and start moving about. Chris decided this was as good a time as any and stood.

His mom was waiting, standing next to the table. On the table was a large pack, stuffed full, stressing the weathered, bleached canvas. It looked old, but sturdy, the metal buckles still shiny, and a brand new sleeping bag contrasting.

"Oh, good!" Her voice was genuinely chipper, "You and your pokemon are looking great." She laid a hand on the pack, looking wistful. She looked as though she was holding a lot back.

"Mom..." Chris tried to explain himself, to apologize, to rationalize, but before he could continue his mom had moved to wrap him in a hug. Bartles was squished between them, looking up quizzically. She held them both for a long minute.

"You don't need to," she cooed, "I'm happy that you will have more to your life. Go. Experience. Grow. The world out there is so much more than in here. And, sometimes, pokemon are the gateway. I had forgotten that. And, little Bartles here reminded me in a simple instant. Go meet more pokemon, more people, see more places. And come home when you can. I will be alright. Things are looking up."

She held on a bit longer, then let go and reached behind the pack to produce an equally worn hat, bearing the now archaic symbol of the Pokemon League. It was smaller, and Chris realized it had a snap-back, closed to the tightest setting. Chris looked at it curiously, he had never seen it before, and he was reasonably certain it wasn't his mother's. He looked at her with the question, but she just smiled again and put it on his head. A perfect fit.

"You should go. You have a handful of chores you'll need to complete before your challenge officially begins. Go buy some pokeballs and formally catch your first pokemon. And, come show me. After that you'll be gone for a while, but it'll be okay." She helped Chris saddle the pack on his shoulders, adjust the straps to hold the weight better, and did it all with swift, deft motions. Chris had questions, but figured they'd be answered in due time.

With one last smile, Chris returned Bartles and headed out the front door. This time, he turned away from the lab and towards the Pallet Town gate and felt better about it.

"Take care now!" His mother called one last time. Chris looked back, and she was in the doorway watching him go. Her smile remained. Chris headed to Route 1.

Chris remembered too late about the nesting pidgey in the grass, but some sort of reflex kicked in and Bartles was out as soon as the pokemon took flight in a cry of rage. The pidgey kicked up angry gusts that forced Bartles into rough tumbles through the dirt, scratching and bruising him, but he was simply stronger. A handful of clean Tackles and the pidgey was taking flight, leaving the area in angry squawking.

The sense of victory was a surprise, Bartles seemed very pleased with himself, and Chris felt proud in turn. He walked proudly and confidently through the grass, finding the path on the other side to lead him north.

It wasn't too long before Chris met another person on the road. The man was in uniform, a blue apron contrasting with the green and dusty tan of the area. He had a stack of fliers in hand and a box behind him. Chris approached in curiosity. The man smiled.

"Hi! I work at the Pokemon Mart. It's a convenient shop, so please visit us in Viridian City!" He held out a flier as he rattled off the sales pitch. He was clearly here to pick up the sales new trainers could offer. "Oh! I've got free samples! Here you go!" He reached into the box behind him and produced a potion. Chris would not say no to free healing items and gratefully accepted. The man seemed pleased as Chris walked away.

"Oh, we also carry pokeballs for catching pokemon!" He cried after Chris. Definitely trying to get the sales of new trainers, Chris decided.

The rest of the trail was rather relaxed, another pidgey got its feathers ruffled, but Bartles once again had no issue defeating it. He was getting stronger. Chris' License even pinged, notifying him that Bartles had grown to level 7. Chris just figured it was a numerical value to try to express a pokemon's strength and experience.

Viridian City's sign came up in no time. 'The Eternally Green City,' it said. The rich, well-kept grass and sprawling short hedges certainly made it feel accurate. Chris took a couple minutes to take in the sights, as he'd never been to the city, and then started hunting for the Pokemon Centers.

Pokemon Centers have always been a staple of the Pokemon Gym Challenge. Government funded safe havens for rest and healing. They're all even equipped with a PC for access to a trainer's stored pokemon and items. Most now even have a service counter for trading pokemon over long distances. They're not required, yet, if you are right next to someone, but it has become required to exchange authorization of Trainer status. Trading can be a tricky business.

Chris walked in and took a look around the lobby, a comfortable environment with multiple couches. A small scattering of people were relaxing. Chris headed up to the counter and greeted the woman in pink.

"Welcome to our Pokemon Center! We heal your pokemon back to perfect health! Shall we heal your pokemon?" Her name tag read 'Nurse Joy' and she had the kind of sugary sweet customer service voice that you expect to come out in the face of a screaming mother of three.

"Uh, yes, just one…" Chris said, pulling Bartles' ball to hand over.

"Ok. We'll need your pokemon." Her voice had a sense of tiredness to it, now, like she only had enough energy to get through her opening lines. Customer service for a high demand government service must be draining.

It only took her a moment at a glowing machine much like Professor Oak's, and she was back, the pokeball being carried in a tray meant for six.

"Thank you! Your pokemon are fighting fit! We hope to see you again!" Her smile was back, beaming and strong. Meanwhile, Chris wondered how to take that last sentence. He started to walk away, but turned back.

"Hey, is everything alright? You do an important job, and I just want to make sure you're okay because I don't know what trainers like me would do without you." Chris did his best to sound supportive. Nurse Joy's face twisted for a moment and Chris thought she was going to cry. Then, she laughed, short and hard, and came back up with a genuine smile.

"Thanks. It has been hard. The newest laws make caring for pokemon hard. Not being allowed to revive recently fallen pokemon, seeing more and more trainers come in to mourn their fallen companions… It's really hard. But, the handful that care, like you, make it worth it. So," she bowed low behind the counter, "Thank you! We hope to see you again!" When she came up, there was a single tear tucked under her eye.

Chris left with a conflicting feeling of satisfaction. On one hand, he felt great reassuring someone who was having a hard time. He felt great about that, and that he has access to such a fantastic and useful institution. But, he also felt terrible about now taking part in a system that actively brings hardship and difficulty on people who only want to help and heal.

Chris mused over the moral ramifications as he approached the mart, stopping short before he walked in the door and wondered: Why am I, a fifteen-year-old, being made to ponder such moral questions? He shook his head and pushed through the door.

The store was tight and packed with items. They covered walls and a single shelf in the center, standing to make yet more space. A narrow counter sat to the left, a clerk was wearing the same blue apron from the man on Route 1, studiously scribbling on some papers.

Chris thought about perusing, but a quick glance revealed to him that most of the readily displayed items at hand were gimmicky, unregulated items that likely held little actual value or purpose. There were also food items displayed, pokemon food, drinks, general utility items, house supplies, and even stationary. Chris could see that they held the real medicines and trainer items behind the counter. Basic anti theft. Chris approached the counter.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" He sounded serious, but he did not look up from his work.

"Uh, hi, I just came in from Pallet, I was just lookin-" The man looked up and interrupted Chris.

"Hey! You came from Pallet Town? You know Professor Oak, right?" He had the same serious expression.

"Yeah, I mean, most people in Pall-" Chris was cut off once again.

"His order came in. Will you take it to him?" As he spoke he reached under his counter and grabbed something, producing a small notebook sized parcel. He pushed it across the counter and returned to his work. Chris was taken aback.

"Uh, I actually just wanted to buy some pokeballs." Chris said, producing the flier for pokeballs he got from the man on Route 1. The clerk looked up again and took the flier, scanning it over.

"Yeah, we sell pokeballs, but a young man… about your age, more hair though, came through and bought all of them. I ordered an emergency stock up from Pewter, but it'll be a couple hours more, at least. Go deliver that package, in the meantime." And, he returned to his work, sliding the flier back across the counter.

Chris was at a loss, but at his core he was an obedient young man. He figured whatever this package was must be important, to ask a random kid to deliver it, so he turned south and headed back to Pallet. His exit now felt like it had less impact.

Thankfully, on his return, Chris discovered the ease and joy of sliding down the steep hillsides that led to the coast and Pallet Town. It made the journey back far faster and more fun.

Chris bee-lined for Oak's lab, this time, wanting this task to be done as quickly as possible. The research area was still neat and orderly, the assistant gave Chris a nod. The back lab had been somewhat tidied since he was there before, but still a scattered disarray. Oak was behind his desk.

"Oh, Chris, you're back soon. How's my old pokemon?" Chris laid down the package and summoned Bartles. Bartles gave a little shake, looked around, and bounced over to Chris, chirping happily. Oak continued, "Well, it seems to like you a lot. You must be talented as a pokemon trainer." There was a subtle sarcasm in his voice. Chris sighed and withdrew Bartles, picking up the package again. Oak noticed.

"What's that? You have something for me?" Oak took the package, and Chris delivered Oak's parcel. He pulled off the brown wrapping paper and deftly pulled the box open. "Ah! This is the custom pokeball I ordered. Thank you."

Just then, the door to the lab opened with a slam and a shriek as Yari strolled in.

"Gramps! What's the big idea calling me back here when I was already in Pewter!" He stomped in, noticed Chris and sneered. "And, what's he doing here?"

Oak sighed, "Just good timing, really. I have a request for the two of you, though I didn't plan for you to be here at the same time… Come over here." Oak led them to a desk, clean except for a pair of matchbox sized SD cards. "These are my invention, the Pokedex, now adjusted to accommodate the Pokemon League. They slot into your Licenses and allow you the full functionality of individual Pokedexes, as well as recording the pokemon you've caught for League regulation. They require it for your Gym Challenge. But, personally, I need more data." As he spoke, he clicked the chip into a corresponding slot on their Licenses. Oak stepped back when he was finished. He looked back and forth between them, then focused on Yari.

"I need you to raise the strongest pokemon you can, become the Champion, and prove your power." Oak looked serious, not breaking eye contact with Yari, who seemed enraptured by this request. He shook himself a bit and walked away. Chris looked at Oak quizzically, started to follow Yari out, and felt a tug on his jacket stop him. He looked to see Oak holding the fabric, subtly shaking his head.

"Alright, Gramps! Leave it all to me! Chris, I hate to say it, but I don't need you!" Chris decided he did not sound like he hated to say it very much. "I know! I'll borrow a Town Map chip from my aunt! I'll tell her not to lend you one, Chris! Ha haha!" It was jarring, for Chris, to hear a genuine, taunting laugh of just 'ha.' After the door to the lab had settled, he had to close his mouth consciously.

"Idiot," Oak muttered, "Now, Chris, what I want you to do is a little more… delicate. I need you to raise the strongest pokemon you can, become the Champion, and prove your power." Before Chris could even object Oak held up a finger to silence him.

"And do it without resorting to killing your opponents pokemon." And, now Chris understood why Yari was redirected before Oak told him. This… was not something Yari would necessarily agree with, or even be capable of. Thankfully, Chris didn't need long to decide.

"Yeah, I can do that, was planning on that, anyway, honestly. I thought you were going to ask me to 'complete the Pokedex' or something." Chris said, relieved. Oak scrunched his nose.

"I made the Pokedex, literally did that already. I once asked my first son's kid and his friend to do that, but that was when the Pokedex was brand new, and I was really sending them out to collect pictures, more than anything else. Just had to make them feel important, so they'd do it."

Chris nodded at that, but his mind was on the actual request. From the first moment he nearly killed Yari's bulbasaur, regardless of the fact that it was an accident, and that Yari was fully intent on killing Bartles, from that moment Chris knew that he did not want to kill pokemon needlessly.

He confirmed it again with Oak and made to leave.

"Go ahead and see my granddaughter," Oak said, "She'll give you a Town Map, she knows Yari is a brat."

Chris decided to give it a try and headed to Oak's house. He knocked on the door and heard a soft summons from inside. Chris opened the door to the comfortable home. Daisy Oak was seated casually at the dining room in pajamas, typing away on a laptop. Chris remembered from a talk between her and his mom that she worked on the development of vanity applications. Primarily useless, but convenient or enjoyable programs that could be run from PCs or even some televisions. He had heard that they were expanding into Trainer Licenses. Maybe she developed the Pokedex chip, Chris wondered.

She looked up as he approached, smiling.

"Hey, kiddo. What's up?" She adjusted in her seat to face him.

"Hi, Professor Oak, said I should come by and pick up a map, since I'm gonna be traveling for a while." Chris asked. He felt awkward now that he was here, just asking for something for free.

"Grandpa asked you to run an errand, huh? Haven't I heard that one before? Here, this is what you're looking for." She shuffled through a box of something rattly beside here, occasionally picking up chips to check them before putting them back and continuing the hunt. Finally, she gave a triumphant cry and held on up above the rest.

"Got it! I integrated the old Pokedex function of identifying the native habitats of pokemon you've seen. Helps with the hunting." Her smile was warm, and Chris couldn't help but wonder where Yari had gone wrong.

Chris left the home in high spirits. Things felt good for the first time in a long while. They felt new and promising. Like the wind had started blowing a different direction, and maybe there wasn't a new storm blowing in from over the horizon. Maybe there was, but maybe there wasn't, and that was new.

Chris looked down that street at his home. He thought about what his mother had said to him, to come back when he'd caught his first pokemon, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be coming home for a bit after this. He headed to see her again.

The visit was pleasant, short and uneventful. Chris and his mother enjoyed a light lunch together, Chris brought out Bartles to eat, as well. He seemed to be ecstatic to be sitting with them, at the table, and Chris' mother couldn't seem to stop watching the little squirtle with a smile. Chris admonished him once, for being messy. Afterwards, Bartles ate meticulously, and responded with swift panic to any piece of food that hit the table. Watching him left Chris' mother in fits of uncontrolled laughter that she tried to stifle behind her hand. 

Chris thought about it, and he wasn't certain the last time he had heard his mother laugh, but as he watched her be in stitches, while Bartles continued to hyper focus on his meal, he decided that he didn't care and was happy that she was laughing now. The meal ended, and Chris returned Bartles to get ready to leave.

"I probably won't be back for a while, Mom," Chris warned, "but the next time, I'll probably have a full team. So, we can have a full meal, all of us!" Chris shouldered his pack, adjusting it in a moment of awkward reflection, but his mom was smiling.

"I'd like that very much, Chris. I'll see you soon. Stay safe." She said, and with a hug, she sent Chris on his way.

This time, Chris felt far more confident, and did not look back. So, he didn't see Daisy walking across the road to stand beside his mother. They stood together, watching as Chris walked through the gate and disappeared into the tall grass of Route 1. Daisy sighed and turned to Chris' mother.

"You gonna be alright?" Daisy searched her friend's face. Chris' mother was still watching the gate, a smile lingering. She turned to Daisy.

"Yeah, I think I'll be alright," she said, "If you had asked me yesterday, I would have probably just… cried. Thinking I was losing him. Losing someone else. But, I met his pokemon. I saw them interact together, I… I re-experienced the joy that pokemon introduce into our lives. Now that I think about it, I can't believe it's been so long since I've cared for pokemon. Ever since the new laws were enacted, and I lost…" She had to stop as a sudden surge of emotion choked her. Daisy stepped closer and laid a comforting arm across her shoulders.

"Hey, it's okay, I get it." Daisy reassured her. They stood together a moment while Chris' mom regained her composure.

"I'm gonna make a trip into Viridian, in the next couple days," she finally said, "I think I need to visit the Pokemon Center and make some withdrawals."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Daisy asked, "Don't want you to get lost in the Emerald City."

"No," she responded, laughing, "I think I can handle it."

"And, the pidgey?" Daisy pressed further. Chris' mom smiled again.

"It's been a long while since that was a problem. I'll be fine." She gave Daisy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and headed indoors.

Daisy stayed a moment longer, staring out into the world, musing after a time when she watched others leave Pallet. She snorted a laugh to herself and headed home.


	4. Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Chris had no issues returning to Viridian City. He stopped in at the Pokemon Center, had a short, pleasant conversation with Nurse Joy, and headed over to the Poke Mart. He felt it was beyond time for him to get a new pokemon.

The store hadn't changed, but the cashier was different. They looked similar, and maybe he'd confuse them from a distance, but he could clearly see the differences when he was able to look into their face.

"Hi," Chris greeted as he approached the counter.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you today?" The cashier asked. Chris noted that he was far friendlier than the man he had spoken to last time.

"I was told earlier today that pokeballs were out for emergency order, have they come in, yet?" Chris asked. The clerk checked some papers on his desk then looked up smiling.

"They were just delivered, not even unpacked, yet. I'll go grab a box." He disappeared through a doorway behind the counter, and Chris took the time to check his finances and tally the number of pokeballs he could purchase. The clerk returned with a squat box.

"How many would you like?" He asked with a smile.

Armed with pokeballs, Chris headed back to Route 1, as that was the first route he had to catch something from. He headed into the route, and was amazed to find that where he had had to run from, or defeat, a pokemon every couple minutes during his travel back and forth from the town, but now that he was hunting it was as though the pokemon in the region could sense his intent and were in hiding.

Just as Chris was taking a break under a tree, tired from walking and skulking about, when he heard an angry chirping above him. Looking up, he had just enough time to roll aside as a pidgey dive bombed where he had been. This was it, Chris first, formal encounter on Route 1.

As Chris drew Bartles' ball, he noticed something. This pidgey was big, especially by the standard on the route. And, the way it ruffled its feathers was incredibly familiar. Chris tossed Bartles' ball.

"Come on, Bartles', it's an old friend." Chris called, and Bartles appeared in the usual flash of light. He gave a small cry and took up a battle stance. "Take it easy on him, Bartles, we are gonna catch this one." Bartles nodded in confirmation.

It went quickly; the pidgey kicked up his Gust attacks, knocking Bartles around a bit, but one solid tackle brought it to the ground. Chris took the opportunity while it was prone to throw a pokeball. The pidgey got absorbed into the ball. Chris cried out in victory, but caught himself short as the ball started to shake. He watched with bated breath as it continued quivering, then it stopped and Chris felt he could finally relax.

His License chimed at his wrist. Chris checked it to see a stat read out on the pidgey already coming up. Shortly after, it raised a prompt to name the pidgey. He quickly settled on Elly because it felt right and clicked through the prompt. After, it surprised Chris to have one more pop up. His map appeared, a flashing pokeball icon appearing next to Route 1. After a moment it stopped flashing, but persisted next to the Route 1 label. Chris assumed this to mean he'd caught a pokemon here and would not be allowed another.

Chris also noticed that there appeared to be a branching route leading out of Viridian, headed west. Route 22, it read. He felt this was as good a place as any to go find another pokemon to catch, and headed out once more, stopping at the Pokemon Center to heal up Elly and introduce her to Nurse Joy. Then, he went on to the route.

It was darker, now, and Chris felt he may only have an hour or so of sunlight left if he wanted to catch a pokemon today. He thought about how quickly things had changed. Only this morning he'd swung from not wanting to leave home, to this, having pokemon of his own, hunting through the wilderness for pokemon of all types, prepared to take on the Gym Challenge and defeat the Elite 4.

Chris was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice the small pokemon that cried out just as Chris' foot fell upon it. He quickly stumbled back, fearing he had hurt it. The creature was purple, with darker spots, spines running down its back, and a horn central in its forehead. Chris also noticed the absolutely massive ears, nearly as large as the rest of the pokemon's body.

"Well," Chris mused aloud as he freed Bartles, "Guess it's gotta be you." The pokemon was tiny, smaller than even most of the rattata Chris had seen on his way. But it had a ferocious gleam in its red eyes as it squared up to fight. It did not appear to be prepared to run.

"Bartles, we're gonna catch this guy, too, so go easy." Chris warned. Bartles replied with a quiet noise and a nod. "Okay, Tackle, then!" And Bartles shot forward. He caught the small pokemon by surprise and slammed it to the ground. "No!" Chris shouted in worry, fearing the little pokemon was just too weak, but it didn't stay still for long. As it struggled to its feet, one eye opening a fiery orb of protest, Chris threw a pokeball.

The pokemon was absorbed; the ball shook weakly, and then stopped moving as Chris' License pinged with success. He checked it to find it called the creature a nidoran, and he curiously noted that it had the 'male symbol' next to its name. He wondered if the different genders of this pokemon were unique from each other.

Chris puzzled over the naming screen for a time before typing in Mickey, and thus officially adding him to the team.

Satisfied, Chris headed back to the pokemon center, healed up Mickey, and borrowed a room for the night. At first, he felt strange lying in a new bed, in a new town, far from home. He stared at the ceiling and let his brain replay the day's events as a sense of contentment softly lulled him to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, Chris released all three pokemon from their balls and introduced them to each other. They all seemed to have an innate sense of loyalty, but without losing their personalities. Bartles was still as happy-go-lucky as ever, bouncing about happily as Chris told him the other two's names. Mickey seemed to be stubborn, like he would be a part of this team and listen, but he wasn't going to like it. But, it was Elly who surprised him the most, seeming to take an almost mothering role over Mickey, cloaking him in a wing and cooing to him softly. For Mickey's part, he seemed to relax under her care. Chris watched on curiously, but didn't intervene.

After allowing all of them to bond, for a time, Chris enjoyed watching them begin to establish their relationships. Bartles was a prankster, Mickey was stand-offish, but wasn't mean or against engaging, and Elly was clearly shaping up to be a matron, in a sense. Pleased, Chris returned them and set out preparing himself for the day.

Chris' Trainer License told him that both Mickey and Elly were level 3, while Bartles was sitting comfortably at level 7. Chris decided to bring everyone up to an equilibrium before continuing on to Pewter City. He knew he had to pass through Viridian Forest to get there, and it had a reputation for its dangerous bug pokemon. Chris set back out for Route 1, prepared to let Elly and Mickey take the lead.

Chris was unprepared for how nerve-wracking the trial was. Elly and Mickey were noticeably weaker than Bartles, perhaps because Oak had raised Bartles, not to mention that he noticed that Bartles seemed to have learned far more in his single battle against Yari's bulbasaur than any fight that was occurring in the wild. It made sense that you could gain more experience fighting against a more experienced opponent. He ended up pulling Mickey and Elly out of fights frequently, letting Bartles take a hit or two for them and finish off the pokemon, just to make sure they stayed safe.

Training took incredibly long, because of this, and Chris started training on and off between Route 1 and 22 just to break the monotony. Chris was moving back and forth, in and out, healing his team frequently and playing it safe rather than risking anyone's health, over the course of two weeks.

In that time, he encountered the female variant of the nidoran, finding it to appear far softer, and much lighter in color. Chris liked it, the one he found being curious and only becoming hostile when Chris called out Mickey to fight. Chris also spent a lot of time going in and out of the Pokemon Center, and as such got to know Nurse Joy rather well. He learned that Nurse Joy wasn't her name, but actually a title, to honor the original family of Nurses and Doctors that initially established the Pokemon Center system. Her real name was Megan.

Chris also met many of the regulars who seemed to just use the Center as a locus for their daily activities. There was even an old man that was the nastiest, rudest individual that would shout at Chris for even crossing his path, but that was before he had some of the Pokemon Center complimentary coffee. After that, he was as pleasant and jovial as anyone else. He even kept offering to teach Chris, "How to really catch a pokemon!" which Chris kept politely declining.

It was during the week of grinding out levels that Chris noticed that Route 22 did not stop at the small, grassy shelf between a rock face and an escarpment where he had found Mickey, where he'd been training. Chris was close to finishing the training he wished to get done, so he decided to explore further once he had.

A narrow path led up the hillside, making it barely passable. Chris wound his way up, only pausing to catch his breath once he had hit the next shelf. From the height, Chris could survey the skyline of Viridian, and see that the path continued on to the west. He rested just long enough to catch his breath, then he headed into the pass. He had just stepped between the two rock faces when he saw someone else appear from the other side. The shock of red hair made Chris' stomach sink.

Yari hesitated in surprise himself, but smirked and approached Chris with swagger.

"Hey! Chris!" Yari's voice was smarmy and condescending, "_You're_ going to the Pokemon League?" He thumbed over his shoulder.

"Well-" Chris tried to respond but Yari continued his ranting.

"Forget it! You probably don't even have any badges. The guard will never let you through." Yari looked sneered as he looked Chris up and down. "By the way, did your pokemon get any stronger?" Finally, Yari seemed to pause and expect an actual answer.

"Yeah, actually, Bartles has gotten a little stronger, and I caught a couple other pokemon as well." Chris was a little proud of himself and the work he and his pokemon had put in. He didn't mind bragging a little bit. Yari sneered.

"Well, I'll show you my new pokemon, if you show me yours." He drew a pokeball from his wrist and threw it, a pidgey appearing in a flash of light. "So, bring out your pokemon and let's do this!" Yari was grinning. Chris didn't really see an issue with that, so he popped Elly's ball free and tossed it forward.

It was just as it left his hand that his License pinged an alert. He checked it, and his heart dropped as he read the alert and watched the panels change.

_Yari wants to fight! Yari sent out a pidgey!_

"What the hell is this, Yari?" Chris challenged, "I didn't agree to a pokemon battle!" Yari shrugged.

"Yeah, you did," He mocked, "You only need to choose a pokemon in response to my challenge, doesn't need to be a verbal agreement. And look at that, both of our pidgeys are out! Guess it's a battle." Yari was grinning maliciously.

Chris looked down at Elly in dismay, but she was ruffled and staring Yari's pidgey down with determination. The pidgey was bigger than even Elly, its eyes were angry, and as it met Elly's gaze it cried out in challenge. Chris nodded and set his feet in the loose soil.

"Alright, let's do this. Elly, Gust!" Chris cried. Yari called out in the same moment

"Sand Attack!" Yari said. His pidgey was fast, taking off in a burst of dust, then flapped its wings hard to send that dust, and anymore it could pick up off the ground, flying around Elly. She cried in distress, but flapped her wings hard and used the Gust to scatter the cloud. Enough force carried through to push the Yari's airborne into one of the cliff walls. It didn't hit very hard, and seemed to only be mildly inconvenienced.

"Good, now hit it with a real Gust." Yari said. His pidgey pumped its wings again, disturbing the air.

"You, too, Elly, Gust!" Chris called desperately. Elly was pushed into a roll along the ground, scraping her body with rocks and stones, before she could recover. Her second gust had a similar effect to the first, mild damage, but not enough to dissuade Yari or his pidgey.

"Finish it!" Yari called triumphantly.

"No! Elly, return." Chris ordered. Elly looked back and fluttered to Chris, taking shelter behind her trainer. His License pinged, starting a countdown to send out another pokemon. In a panic, he pulled Bartles free and sent him out. "Go, Bartles, help us out!" Bartles appeared, smiling, but it quickly faded as he surveyed the scene. Instantly he dropped into a battle stance, just in time for the pidgey to start kicking up its wind.

"Sand Attack!" Yari adjusted his command, and his pidgey adjusted its angle and kicked up another stinging sandstorm. Bartles cried in pain as the debris found his eyes.

"Tackle it, Bartles, bring it down!" Chris said, and Bartles responded by dashing sideways out of the cloud, hopping delicately up the cliff face to get some height.

"Gust it down!" The pidgey did a corkscrew and directed a blast of air at Bartles. Bartles leaped to Tackle it, but the wind caught him first, throwing him to the ground. His shell protected him a bit, but it still looked like it hurt.

"Try again, Bartles!" Chris said desperately. Bartles spun on his shell and found his footing to start the climb again.

"Haha, just knock it down again, pidgey!" Yari said triumphantly. Bartles made the climb quickly, but the pidgey was ready and launched a pocket of air at him. Chris called out in sudden confidence.

"Use your shell!" As Bartles leaped, he tucked his limbs and head into his shell. The sudden aerodynamics allowed him to weather the effects of the gust and strike the pidgey down. They both hit the ground, Bartles popping free with a cry of pain. The pidgey hit and rolled, but quickly regained its footing. "Bartles, get back here. Come on, Mickey, let's finish this!"

"Sand Attack it!" Yari cried defiantly, but Mickey was too far from the pidgey and most of the debris fell short. Mickey quickly took stock of the situation, looking Bartles and Elly over quickly. He turned back at the pidgey, his eyes taking on a glow. He cried in anger and charged in straight away.

"Yeah, Tackle it, Mickey! Just knock it out!" Chris called out, knowing that Mickey could handle this. Yari seemed to sense it, too.

"Gust, pidgey, push it back!" The Gust came out and hit Mickey straight on, his progress was slowed, but he did a tight barrel roll and escaped the torrent and finished his charge. He hit the pidgey hard, forcing it to roll backwards. It hit the cliff side with a thump and stopped moving. Chris caught his breath, but was happy to see the little chest rise and fall with breath.

"Great work, Mickey, but be ready." Chris took stock of the situation and knew he was gonna need to take this differently if he wanted to avoid the worst case scenario. Yari returned his pidgey in a beam of red.

"Bulbasaur, let's end these weaklings." Yari said, but he wasn't smiling anymore. Chris reached into his bag.

"Hold on, I need to grab something…" Chris pleaded.

"Tackle it!" Yari called out an attack despite Chris' preoccupation. Chris pulled out a potion watched on in horror as the bulbasaur charged in and hit Mickey, sending him back in a slide. Mickey, to his credit shook it off and stepped forward to keep fighting.

"What the hell, Yari?!" Chris demanded. Yari, wore a sadistic sneer. Chris followed through with using the potion on Bartles, watching with wonder as his scrapes and bruises healed over almost instantly.

"You really thought I was just gonna let you heal up your team for free? No, if you want to do something that foolish, I'm gonna make you pay for it." Yari taunted. Chris thought about his options and quickly formulated a strategy. He'd had some time to familiarize himself with his teams moves beyond their basic attacks. He learned why Growl had affected Bartles so.

"Mickey, use Leer!" Mickey squared his stance as Chris gave his order.

"You think that'll help? Bulbasaur, Leech Seed it!" Yari said. His bulbasaur set its feet and pointed its bulb at Mickey. Mickey didn't flinch. His eyes flashed red, glowing for just an instant, and the bulbasaur flinched, crying weakly, but it didn't fail to fire its attack. A spray of seeds arced through the air and landed on and around Mickey. as they hit they immediately took root and started to spread tendrils, some covering Mickey, others digging into the soil.

A small handful landed directly on Mickey's spines and instantly withered away to nothing. Chris wondered at the effects of Mickey's poisons on plants.

The plants growing on Mickey now pulsed, and Miskey ground his jaw in apparent pain. Simultaneously, a glow of identical color appeared around the feet of the bulbasaur

"Hold on, Mickey, just a little more. Leer, again!" Chris said reassuringly.

"Like I'll give him the chance, Tackle!" Yari called out. Mickey's eyes flashed again, but the bulbasaur slammed him. Chris could see a shiver run across the bulbasaur's body as the leer took effect.

"Good work, Mickey get over here." As he commanded, Chris pulled another, his last, potion. With a bit of struggle, Mickey broke through the roots holding him and ran to Chris. The bulbasaur pursued. Chris hastily sprayed Mickey down, watching the wounds heal, but noted the seeds did not, then the bulbasaur caught up. Chris had to jump back as it slammed into Mickey. The seeds pulsed with light again, resetting their fast roots, and the light traveled into the bulbasaur. "Let's finish this," Chris muttered.

"He's desperate, let's finish this! Tackle!" Yari cried frantically.

"Tackle it back, Mickey!" Chris commanded, and the two pokemon charged each other. They met head on, bouncing off, followed by the glow of the plants. Mickey looked weak, and the bulbasaur seemed to recover slightly with the seeds. Chris worried what would have happened had some of the seeds not been destroyed by Mickey's poison.

One more, Chris thought, one more and we can finish this.

They met again, slamming into each other. The bulbasaur looked hurt, but Mickey lost the strength in his legs and fell. Chris drew his ball, but had to watch on in horror as the light of the seeds appeared, sapping the energy from Mickey. This time, he cried out, and Chris' heart sunk.

"Yes, finish it!" Yari screamed manically. His eyes flashed wildly.

"Bartles, cover him!" Chris shouted as he used the pokeball to return Mickey. He didn't know if that was enough, but he was happy to see that the seeds did not return with him, instead withering away as soon as their host was gone. The bulbasaur rushed forward, intercepted by Bartles, his head slammed into the turtle's armored belly. Bartles grabbed either side of the bulbasaur. He looked, for the first time that Chris had seen, angry. "Knock him out, Bartles."

"No!" Yari screeched, but he had no opportunities to change anything. Bartles reeled back and slammed his forehead into the bulbasaur, and, with a shudder, it collapsed. Chris hesitated, but sighed in relief when he saw the breathing motions. Then, in a glow of red, it was returned to its pokeball by Yari.

"Aw, you just lucked out," Yari said as he approached, sneering all the while. Bartles took up a defensive stance, growling for the first time Chris had heard. Chris realized that Bartles must hold the same opinion of Yari that he did.

"You know, they say the Pokemon League has many tough trainers," Yari continued, not acknowledging Bartles, "I have to figure out how to get past them. If I can't even beat you…" The rest of his sentence was lost to mumbles as he turned away from Chris and back up the trail from which he had come. He seemed to see something, as he stiffened, and turned back to Chris.

"You should quit dawdling here and get a move on." And, with that vague statement, he left. He walked quickly away, descending the escarpment with relative ease. In a moment, he was out of sight, and then Chris relaxed.

Chris carefully pulled out Mickey's pokeball again. He looked at it for a moment, Bartles and Elly staring up at him in concern as well. With a sigh, Chris released Mickey, hoping for the best.

Mickey appeared sitting upright. He gave a little cry of greeting then curled up and tried to make himself comfortable. Chris gave a small sob of relief as Elly and Bartles crowded around him. Mickey gave a cry of protest, but did not attempt to move away or push them away. Chris sat down and took a deep breath, feeling as though he had just survived a surprise attack.

"Hey!" A voice cried, making Chris jump. He looked around frantically, and saw a man jogging up the path from the west. He was wearing a navy jumpsuit with a red vest, and hat bearing the Pokemon League logo. Trotting at his heel was a red and black striped pokemon. It growled threateningly as the man came to stop, surveying the scene he found. He tapped a Trainer License on his wrist and checked the screen briefly.

"Are you Chris? Hold on, I can just check." He walked over to Chris and held up his arm towards Chris' Trainer License. Chris held it up helpfully. After a moment, the man's own License beeped. "Yup, it's you." He pulled out a notepad. "You have been found to be in violation of the Gym Challenge Restriction Act, by my authority as a Ranger, relegated by the Kanto Indigo League, I am here to confiscate all felonious goods."

Chris was left speechless. He didn't understand what had happened. He moved defensively in front of his pokemon. Oak had told him that breaking the laws meant serious punishments he couldn't afford.

"No! I don't understand, I won that battle, all of my pokemon are alive and well! I can't be in violation, look at them!" Chris pleaded, moving aside to show the man Bartles and Elly crouched protectively over a wounded, but bright eye'd, Mickey. He looked over them, and drooped his shoulders with a sigh.

"Article two, section two, describes the limitations you are allowed to remove by acquiring Gym Badges. You have no Badges, and therefore all your restrictions are in place. You are in violation of item three." He looked down at Chris as he explained, watching the confusion on his face. He looked to his pokemon, who gave a whine, and he sighed again. "You really didn't know about the trainer restrictions?" Chris shook his head. "Jeez, there's a school in Viridian, you must know!"

"No, sir, I'm from Pallet." Chris explained. The man face-palmed.

"Of course you are. Alright, listen, until you acquire your third Gym Badge, you are restricted from using healing items in battle. You used," he checked his License, "two potions in a battle against a trainer named Yari. Correct?" Chris nodded, and opened his mouth to protest, but the man held up a finger to silence him. "But, seeing how this is your first offense, and you can reasonably claim ignorance, I'll let you off with a warning, this time. But, go to the school and learn about the restrictions, and the penalties." He sighed a third time, ran a hand through his hair in defeat, looked to his pokemon, and turned to leave.

"Wait," Chris interrupted, "who are you?" The man turned back.

"Just call me Ranger Walker. Stay safe, I don't want to have to come looking for you, again." And, he kept walking.

Chris sat back with a huff, suddenly exhausted. His pokemon all looked relieved, even Mickey appeared to be relaxing under Elly's wing.

"Let's get back to town, guys," Chris said, and returned everyone, giving himself a stretch before heading back the way he'd come. He took one moment at the top of the trail to wonder after the powers of the Pokemon League, then headed down and back to town.


	5. Chapter 4

The journey back to Viridian was uneventful, and Chris found the lights of the Pokemon Center to be warm and welcoming. He entered into an empty lobby and walked up to the counter. Megan smiled at him, but concern took over her expression when she saw Chris.

"Chris! What happened, you look like…" she gasped, "Don't tell me… did you lose someone?" She was near to tears. Chris reassured her with a smile and shake of his head. He laid all three pokeballs on the counter.

"Nearly," he admitted, "But everyone is alright. I accidentally broke one of the laws, though. So, that was scary." Megan took the balls, gave him a nod, and took them back to her machine. She returned quickly, handing Chris his pokemon on a tray.

"I'm just glad you're alright." She cast her eyes down and away. "It's been nice, having a new face in the Center, for a while. I imagine you'll be moving on to Pewter City soon, though. You are on the Gym Challenge, after all, and the Gym here has been closed for years. But," she paused and made eye contact with Chris, smiling brightly, "I'm going to miss seeing you each day, now."

Chris didn't know what to say. He stayed quiet for a long while, then released all of his pokemon on to the counter, startling Megan. He grabbed all three of them and held them close, smiling at Megan. They were confused, but didn't struggle, Bartles even picking up on Chris' emotions and giving a smile of his own.

"We might need to leave, but we'll be back. I promised to visit my mom as often as possible, and that's only in Pallet. It may be a while, yet, but we'll be back. Besides," Chris released his pokemon and reached for his License, tapping it a few times to bring up his map. He turned his wrist to show Megan. "I still have pokemon to catch on Route 2, and in the Viridian Forest, so I'll definitely make sure to bring them back for you to meet before I continue on to Pewter." He grinned reassuringly, and Megan stifled a laugh.

"You're a good guy, Chris. I'd like that a lot." And, with that, Chris took his pokemon, found a room and went to bed. He had school tomorrow, after all.

Chris had no problems finding the school in the morning, he even discovered that it was next door to the crazy coffee man's house. He went inside and found rows and rows of desks. It seemed to be some kind of study hall, with only a few desks filled, and the teacher not paying the room much mind. There were several lines of text on the chalkboard.

Chris tried having a seat and waiting for some kind of attention, but the room was completely quiet save for the sound of scratching pencils and a ticking clock. Eventually, Chris got antsy and just started asking questions. Chris was grateful to learn that everyone in the room was very comfortable answering his questions, even the kids who were several years younger than him. He learned a lot very quickly, and borrowed a notebook to take notes.

He learned all about pokemon types, statistics, and status conditions. Most importantly, he learned more about the history of the Gym Challenge Restriction Act and the penalties for breaking the laws. A few were well known and weren't new to Chris. You could kill an opponent's pokemon, you were restricted in the pokemon you could catch or forfeit the caught pokemon, and if you lost an entire team your License was revoked and all pokemon released. But, the Gym Badge restrictions were new to him.

• Pokemon are not allowed to evolve until the first badge is earned. If broken, all evolved pokemon are required to be boxed until a second Gym Badge is earned.

• TMs cannot be used until the second badge is earned. If broken, the offending pokemon must be boxed until the third Gym Badge is earned.

• Healing items cannot be used in battle until the third badge is earned. If broken, all healing items in the trainer's possession are confiscated

• Pokemon cannot hold items until the fourth badge is earned. If broken, the offending item is immediately confiscated. The offending pokemon must be boxed until the fourth Gym Badge is earned.

Chris didn't really understand that one, most pokemon couldn't hold and use items anyway.

• The day care cannot be used until the fifth badge is earned. If broken, the offending pokemon must remain the Day Care's possession indefinitely.

• Fishing is disallowed until the sixth badge is earned. If broken, the encountered pokemon counts towards the area's encounter and may not be captured, losing the encounter for the trainer. If the trainer had already caught their first pokemon in the area, that pokemon must be boxed until the seventh Gym Badge is earned

• Vitamins/Super Training cannot be used until the seventh badge is earned. If broken, the offending pokemon is immediately boxed until the eighth Gym Badge is acquired.

• After the eighth badge is earned, ONE future death can be revived. If broken, the offending pokemon is to be immediately released.

Chris thanked everyone in the school and headed out. The day was already late when he left the building, far more equipped for his journey ahead. He was amazed by how much the kids knew, and he wished he had had the opportunity to go to school. His mom had taught him since he was young. He could read and write just fine, he knew his arithmetic, but his education in pokemon had been sparse, limited to personal experience on Route 1.

Most immediately, Chris knew now how badly he had to prepare for the forest. If the pokemon there could poison his team he needed to be prepared for that. Poison would be a slow agonizing death he wouldn't be able to help. Once he got into the forest, he'd be too far from any Centers to get help. He headed to the mart and bought some antidotes and potions. He made sure to leave enough money for his mom.

From there, Chris headed north out of town, only sparing a glance at the broken windows and peeling paint of the Gym in town. Route 2 was a gently sloping climb bordered by thick hedges. Every once and in a while, Chris could see a small, prickly tree being the only barrier to the other side of the hedge wall. With no way to pass it at the moment, he continued on.

Soon, he could see a large gate house at the top of the hill with a dense field of tall grass leading up to its entrance. Chris could see a clear path around the grass, but he decided now was as good a time as any to catch a new pokemon. As he approached the grass, he heard an angry chittering. Dashing out of the grass came an enraged rattata. It turned and chattered angrily back into the grass, but Chris could not see what.

Then, the rattata noticed him, turning to him with a startled jump. Chris pulled Elly's ball and gave it a toss.

"Alright, Elly, time to get a new friend." Chris said.

The capture was incredibly quick, only a single Gust to knock the rattata off balance, then a well aimed throw and Chris was left puzzling over a name. He settled on Gustavo.

Chris decided he should at least see the forest, catch a pokemon, and then head back to heal up Gustavo and introduce him to Megan.

Viridian Forest was dark and gloomy, as promised, barely letting any of the midday sun reach the forest floor. The grass grew thick at the base of the trees, natural paths existed, but much of the forest was naturally impassable, or at least dangerous to do so. It was quiet for a time, as Chris wandered around enjoying the atmosphere. He found a couple of items dropped by others, an empty pokeball, another antidote, which he would not say no to.

Through all this, he didn't see any pokemon, Chris was starting to believe that something of his was keeping them away. Then he saw movement to his right. He snapped his head over, but by time his eyes settled to search, there wasn't anything there, just trees.

Then, there was movement on his left. Chris turned his whole body this time, but nothing. A sense of unease crept up Chris' spine. He started to back away from where he was slowly. Movement on his right, but nothing there, on his left, nothing. The fear was creeping in faster and faster. Every flickering shadow, every gust of wind through the trees, Chris' head was whipping back and forth.

Then, there was a tap on his shoulder. Chris wheeled about so fast he nearly fell, but there was nothing there. He did hear something, however. A soft thud, and frantic squeaking. Chris searched about his feet and found a green, worm-like pokemon thrashing in the grass. Immediately, his body relaxed, and he knelt down to get a better look at the pokemon.

"Hey, there, little guy. What are you doing there?" Chris asked. The little worm rolled over, and squeaked again as it looked up at Chris. Its eyes squinted, and it started to shuffle towards Chris. Chris reflexively held a hand down, and the little pokemon happily crawled into his hand and up his arm. It settled on his shoulder.

As Chris stood, he now knew what had happened. When the pokemon was on his shoulder, he could only occasionally see the little creature out of the corner of his eye. It must have been sitting on his shoulder, and moving just before Chris could see it fully.

"How long were you up here, buddy? Do you wanna come with me?" The little pokemon was squeaking and almost humming as Chris spoke to it. It only took him a moment longer to realize this was most certainly his official first encounter. He reached into a backpack pocket and pulled out a free pokeball.

"Hey, little one, are you interested in coming with me for a bit?" Chris asked, holding the pokeball up to the little pokemon on his shoulder. There was another happy squeal, and a flash of red, and the ball stopped shaking almost immediately. Chris named her Lesle.

Satisfied with his progress for the day, Chris hiked back to the Viridian Pokemon Center, introducing Gustavo and Lesle to Megan before turning in for the night. He promised Megan he'd be staying around another couple days training the two newest before committing to hike all the way through the forest.

Chris found Gustavo was feisty and quick, eager to fight and triumphant in victory. He got along great with Bartles, and seemed to have an instant rivalry with Mickey. Whenever they were out together, Gustavo was always trying to antagonize Mickey into doing… something. Chris wasn't certain if he wanted a fight, wanted Mickey to acknowledge him, or if he just wanted him to move, since Mickey was more often than not content to simply relax, unless he was battling. When Chris swapped Mickey in, once, to finish a fight, he left Gustavo out of his ball. Chris could tell the little rattata was enamored. It was like witnessing a child watch an action hero. Eyes wide, mouth open. Gustavo was even more annoying for Mickey after that.

Lesle, on the other hand, was a gentle little angel. She clearly did not enjoy fighting, preferring to sit on Chris' shoulder rather than climb down and do any harm to anything. With a little coaxing, Chris could get her to battle, but he almost always had to bring in someone else to finish off the opponent. Thankfully, while training her, Chris ran into one of the younger boys he'd met at the school.

"Wow, you got a caterpie?" the boy had asked, "I thought everyone considered them pokemon for kids and avoided them." Chris didn't quite understand.

"What do you mean 'pokemon for kids,' Lesle is gentle, sure, but she is as capable of battling as any other pokemon on my team." Lesle, still on Chris' shoulder, seemed to beam at the compliment. The young boy smiled, too.

"Well, it's that they're gentle, yeah, but they're also easy to raise. Even a young kid can get one to evolve with a little bit of dedicated training. The trouble is they turn into metapod, then they get real hard to train cause they don't move much." He explained. Chris took it all in.

He decided that he'd have to put Lesle's training on hold, for now. After all, he didn't want her to have to be boxed for who knows how long while he hunted down more badges. For the time being, he allowed her to take up semi-permanent residence on his shoulder. No one else seemed to mind, though Elly also tended to take the other shoulder when she was out, now.

Lesle was level 6, and everyone else was level 8, when Chris said goodbye to Megan with more finality. He headed north, prepared to make his way entirely through the Viridian Forest in one forced march. Chris once again puzzled at the other side of the hedge, but continued on into the forest.

For the first time, Chris truly explored, rather than picking up a few items and a Lesle and heading right back out, he headed deep into the woods and really started navigating the maze of trees. He encountered far more bug pokemon this time, but none of them posed an issue. Gustavo led the way.

This time, Chris discovered the other common bug pokemon in the area, weedle. Being a more vibrant color, and with a large horn on its head, Chris assumed this was the threat that gave Viridian Forest its toxic reputation. The wild pokemon, though, posed no issues for Gustavo who bravely led the way.

Chris also encountered the bug pokemon's evolved forms, metapod and kakuna. Which, more often than not, Chris found them by accident when they fell from the trees they were hidden in. A handful of times Chris discovered them at the base of a tree, but either way, they never tried to attack or harm his team. More often than not, Chris just left them be.

Wild pokemon were not all Chris encountered, though. The forest was full of young men who were all either convinced the rapid growth of bug pokemon was the best, or were too inexperienced to feel comfortable trying to train anything else.

The very first challenge he came across confirmed his suspicions. The trainer had a caterpie and a weedle. While the caterpie posed no threat to Gustavo, the weedle was dangerous. While its frailty was equivalent to caterpie, the horn on its head packed a powerful poison it could impart with Poison Sting. Gustavo took the full hit. It left a swollen, red bubble under his skin, though it did not stop him from finishing the fight.

They took a mid-afternoon lunch at this point, so Chris could treat the poisoning, and just to give everyone a breather. While they relaxed in a clearing, Chris took the opportunity to do some research through his Pokedex. He confirmed his suspicions that Mickey was Poison-type, but he still wasn't sure if that protected him in his battle with Yari, or if it would protect him from a weedle's poison. He decided that discovering mid battle wouldn't be for the best.

Chris continued on from there, encountering more trainer's willing to battle. After so recently learning all the rules he had to follow, Chris was surprised to find some of the boys had evolved pokemon, namely metapod and kakuna. One of them was able to explain that if you caught them already evolved then the regulation didn't apply. Chris wondered at the ethics of that.

The battles and walking took long enough that night fell, and Chris set up camp deep in the forest for himself. It only took fifteen minutes of forest noise for Chris to decide that the safest way to sleep that night would be with all of his pokemon out with him. Mickey slept at his feet, Elly on his stomach, Bartles under one arm with Gustavo under the other, and Lesle curled comfortably around his neck. Chris slept soundly that night.

The next day they headed out refreshed and prepared to handle the day. The day's hike was pleasant and uneventful. Chris found another antidote, but so far Mickey was proving to be immune to the poisons of weedles.

Just as Chris turned a corner, to see the light of day at the end of a final corridor, Mickey's constitution was finally put to the test. A trainer waited halfway down the path. Chris got the feeling he was there strategically, prepared to challenge any of the trainers that had braved the forest, and had their energy and resources subsequently sapped. The thought of it angered Chris.

However, that fight was subsequently easy. Chris had tried to walk past him, at first.

"Hey, wait up!" he called out, his voice as smarmy and condescending as Chris expected, "What's the hurry?" As he approached, tossing a single pokeball in his hand, something snapped in Chris. A righteous fury overtook him, and when Chris called out Mickey, the feeling seemed to be reflected in his eyes. They stood together, a single unit of justice.

They destroyed the poor weedle, which could do almost nothing with Mickey being immune to its poison. 

"I give, I give!" the boy cried, cradling his unconscious weedle, "You're good at this…" The boy seemed to have adopted a strange reverence. Chris walked away, stopping only because he saw something shining in the grass, a potion. He took it.

Chris exited out into the sunlight and took a deep breath. Lesle, still on his shoulder, swayed side to side in apparent happiness. She hummed pleasantly while Chris checked his License map.

A quick survey revealed that he was still technically on Route 2, so he could not catch a new pokemon here, but also that Pewter City was only a short walk away. As Chris walked on, he could see another of the short, densely thorned trees he had seen on the other side of Viridian Forest. He wondered at it curiously, but did not stop to investigate, choosing instead to march straight into Pewter.

The city sign greeted him as he rounded the corner. 'Pewter City: A Stone Gray City' it read. Chris found it to be a more sparsely populated city than Viridian, but decided that was not a matter of population but rather area. The city sat at the foot of a large mountain that rose slowly into the east. Houses had larger yards, paths were wider, there was a community garden, with a studious gardener spraying pokemon repellant all over it, and even a museum that Chris was dragged to when he foolishly told an overzealous man he had not been. Overall, Chris enjoyed his first day in Pewter.

He ended his tour at the Pokemon Center. Chris had been slightly hesitant to visit, worrying that he would feel sad about leaving behind Megan, but it was not something he could avoid for too long.

Chris' attention was immediately drawn, when he entered, to a small, round pokemon sitting comfortably on one of the Pokemon Center's sofas. Chris saw the Center's Nurse Joy smile at him, but he couldn't resist visiting briefly with the new pokemon.

Chris knelt down to be on eye level with it and introduced himself. "Hi there, my name's Chris." He smiled at the rotund pokemon, and it smiled back. It chirped and whined at him in a surprisingly melodic tone. "Do you mind if I learn a little more about you?" Chris asked, pulling up his Trainer License. The pokemon seemed happy at that and even started to sing. Chris' Pokedex had started to pull up information, identifying the jigglypuff when he was startled by someone calling out.

"Oh no, don't encourage her!" Chris heard from his right as the Nurse Joy called out. He looked at her and tried to smile reassuringly, but his eyes were just so heavy. Why was she covering her ears, Chris thought, this jigglypuff sings so beautifully?

He awoke in a bed. The new surroundings shocked Chris alert, and he looked about. The Nurse Joy at his bedside, and the familiar layout, made Chris realize he was in one of the Pokemon Center boarding rooms. The Nurse Joy put down the book she'd been reading.

"New trainers," she scoffed, "You excite that jigglypuff every time one of you shows up, then I gotta monitor you for the night because you could have an underlying condition, for all I know!" Chris only just now noticed the bags under her eyes from an apparently sleepless night. He sat up and turned to face her.

"I'm so sorry," he explained, "I'm sure you've heard it all before, but I genuinely did not know. Why do you let the jigglypuff stay in the Pokemon Center if it keeps putting people to sleep; also how does it do that?" The Nurse Joy harrumphed and crossed her arms.

"Check your Pokedex, you shoulda got that info." Chris did as ordered, reading quickly about jigglypuff's innate ability to lull others to sleep with its song. "And, how can we get it out of here if every time we try it puts everyone in the room to sleep! Really."

"Well, at least put up a sign." Chris grumbled. The Nurse Joy leaned forward menacingly.

"We did," she glared, "But over eager nincompoops like you don't even see it before their fawning all over her, and she's sending you to the deepest sleep you've ever had." She leaned back into her arms crossed position again. Chris looked down in embarrassment.

"My name's Chris." He finally offered.

"That's nice." She replied.

"Um… what's yours?" Chris pressed. She looked at him strangely, then.

"You don't think my name's Nurse Joy?" She sneered. Chris shook his head.

"I got to know Megan, in Viridian, pretty well." Chris answered. She perked up at that, smiling.

"Megan! How is she? I haven't seen her in a couple months! The job's pretty twenty-four-seven, ya know?" Her excitement bubbled over into a slight accent.

"She's good, but a little lonely. I think it'd be worth it for you to make the effort to go see her." Chris said pleasantly.

"Well," her tone shifted to apology, "I didn't mean to be so rude to you. Just tired, is all. My name's Parmelia, but just call me Pam. And, let me know if there's anything I can help you with." She rose to leave the room, turning back at the door. "Oh, and I took the liberty of healing your team. They look good, by the way. Healthy." And, she left.


	6. Chapter 5

Chris stepped outside to discover the new day had dawn. He noticed that the counter was unmanned, a small sign on top directing patrons to a counter to the side where a uniformed woman was standing. Chris wondered at her, but he gave a small wave at the jigglypuff and headed out the door, prepared to investigate the Gym.

Chris headed straight there, only briefly looking east, to the trail that lead up the mountain, before turning away and wondering at who would attempt to leave the city before claiming their Gym Badge.

The Gym itself sat at the top of a large rise, placing it well above the rest of the town, and requiring Chris to walk a winding path around the gym before being able to finally reach the entrance. The Gym itself was a long, rectangular building, with a stylized stone exterior, and an elaborate mosaic front facade. He briefly wondered at the value of stairs to the door after hiking the trail up to this point and knocked on the door.

All was quiet on the other side for a time, and Chris wondered if they were closed, but then the door opened and an older, bookish man poked his head out.

"What the heck are you doing?" He asked incredulously.

"Uh, I, uh, wanted to challenge the Gym?" Chris answered.

"Then what are you doing, just come on in. Gym doors are always unlocked and the Leader will accept challenges at any time. Most are open all night, as well, since the Gym Leader has a room here." The man explained. He led Chris inside.

On either side of the entryway were large pillars capped with an octagonal symbol. On the left-hand pillar, Chris could see that the pillar on his left had a plaque inscribed at about his chest level. It read:

Pewter City Pokemon Gym  
Leader: Brock  
Tha Rock Solid Pokemon Trainer

And below that, on a small table, was a guest book. The man seemed to notice Chris' inspection and stepped over to explain.

"That's the Gym plaque, posted to identify the Gym Leader, as I'm sure you could tell. And, below it is the winner's book, where winners sign their names after achieving victory." He said. Chris scanned the recent names. His throat got a little tight when he saw that the most recent name was Yari's. The man continued.

"You know, I've kinda made it a hobby to assist new trainers. I feel it's a bit unfair, walking into your first Gym battle unaware, so I hand out some free info whenever someone new comes in. How about it?" He asked Chris hopefully. Chris felt like he couldn't really turn him down. He nodded consent.

"Alright! Let's get happening!" He cheered, "Now, first thing you need to know is that each gym specializes, and the title of the Gym Leader is usually a pretty solid hint." He wiggled his eyebrows. "If you can't figure it out, you'll be in for a rocky fight." Wiggling intensifies. "After all, Brock's team-"

"I get it, Rock-types." Chris interrupted. He held a subtle hate for puns and could only take so many. The man was cowed a bit.

"Oh… yeah, Rock-types. A good Water, Grass, or even a Fighting-type, and you'll have an easy time." He said, more demure. Chris nodded and pulled up his license to look through his pokemon. He quickly decided that this Gym was going to belong to Bartles, his water typing would be vital, and he had recently learned Bubble. That alone made him the only choice, as it was the only super effective move in the party.

"Alright," said Chris, "guess I'll just give it a shot and see how it goes." And he marched further into the gym.

Chris peered around the main floor. It was boulder strewn, forming a loose, natural maze. On the other side, hovering above the rock field, was a podium. Chris started heading towards it, assuming that's where he could battle Brock.

"Stop right there, kid!" A voice startled Chris as a young man, certainly no older than Chris himself, jumped out from behind one of the boulders half way across. "You're still lightyears from facing Brock!" With that, he threw a pokeball Chris way, producing a mousy, yellow pokemon with tile-textured skin. It growled, flexed, and took up a battle stance. Chris summoned Bartles.

Chris, despite his confidence, found the battle to be very difficult. The trainer's pokemon were powerful, experienced fighters, first up being a sandshrew that used Sand Attack to lower Bartles' accuracy, but not enough to save itself, and second was a diglett. Bartles hit hard, but the diglett hit right back, and Bartles missed his second Bubble because of the sand. Chris feared for Bartles, seeing this trainer was fighting relentlessly, so he swapped in Gustavo.

The diglett threw up its own cloud of sand, but Gustavo deftly evaded and finished the fight with a powerful Quick Attack. Chris sighed in relief and returned his pokemon.

"Darn!" The boy cried, "I forgot that lightyears don't measure time, they measure distance!" Chris shook his head, not really understanding.

He looked up at the podium again, decided he wasn't quite ready, and made to leave.

"Leaving so soon?" The man at the entrance asked.

"For a Rock Gym, all I've encountered so far are pure Ground-types." Chris gave the man a sideways glance as he walked out the door.

Chris decided that everyone needed to be a bit stronger before he challenged Brock directly. So, after a quick pit stop in the Center, Chris headed back to Viridian Forest. He got it into his mind that the best way to practice for the defensive nature of Rock pokemon would be to battle with the armored metapods and kakunas. Also, they didn't fight back, so he could practice quite a bit without risk.

For several days, Chris spent his time training up his team in Viridian Forest. Everyone, except Lesle, who stayed firmly in the back line to prevent her from evolving prematurely. And, for the most part, it went rather smoothly. A couple of days with each pokemon as the focus and everyone was getting registered as Level 11. Chris was still uncertain how much stock he should put into the calculated levels, but he decided to trust them as a general judge of strength.

The only event that occurred was while Chris was most of the way through training Elly. He had just walked away from a kakuna, to let it rest, when he was distracted by a rustling in a nearby bush. Curious, he pushed through the foliage to find a yellow, zig-zagging tail pointing his way. Chris recognized it immediately, as this pokemon had a game series where it solved crimes as an unlikely detective.

The pikachu perked its ears as Chris observed it, then spiraled about to face him, growling fiercely. Chris felt it was a risk, but figured this pikachu was small, and sent out Elly to keep training. It went well enough, but the pikachu surprised them with its ferocity and speed, getting in a very solid Thundershock before being blown away by Elly's gust.

It was days later, just as Chris was feeling as though Bartles was strong enough to fight Brock, it seemed the pikachu returned. Just as he was starting the walk back to Pewter, it dashed out into his path, body lowered and angry. Chris smiled at its veracity and called our Bartles to face it down.

"Tackle it, Bartles!" called Chris. He charged right in, slamming the mouse, but it weathered the hit and released a powerful shock of electricity. It clearly hurt Bartles, but it didn't seem to be too bad, and yet Bartles was grimacing.

"What's wrong?" His movements were stuttery, and after a couple towards Chris he froze up, limbs shaking, before being able to continue moving. "Oh no, paralysis." Chris concluded. The pikachu had fled slightly, but now it was coming back with more speed.

"Tackle it again, Bartles, you can do it!" Bartles stood still, shaking slightly. Chris could see the tremor of the electricity every couple moments, and the pikachu was getting closer. It jumped above Bartles and released another powerful shock. It hit Bartles square, and it looked like his skin began to singe. But, just as the pikachu landed, Bartles' eyes snapped open, and he charged forward to slam the pikachu with his Tackle. It went rolling into the underbrush, and after a second Chris could hear it fleeing through the bushes.

"Are you okay, buddy?" asked Chris. Bartles grimaced again, but nodded resolutely afterward. Chris' License chimed, alerting him that Bartles had leveled up to 11. Chris nodded approvingly. "Well, Bartles, how do you feel about taking on Brock tomorrow?"

Bartles barked with approval.

The next morning brought Chris to the doors of the gym once more. This time, he did not hesitate to push them open and step right in. The man with a lot to say was there, again.

"Hey, Champ-in-the-making, good to see you back!" Chris gave him a nod and continued through. The young trainer from before tried to pop out and surprise him, again.

"Ha! You're centuries from… oh, it's you again." And Chris passed him by.

He climbed the stairs at the back of the Gym and found a large battlefield stretched before him. It was an entirely gray slate, a white border painted on it. Directly across from him, a serious man with a tight-eyed expression glared down on him. He called across the space.

"I am Brock. I'm Pewter City's Gym Leader! I believe in rock hard defense and determination! That's why I choose to specialize in the Rock-type. Do you still want to challenge me?" His voice was ironically gravelly as it boomed in the open space. Chris chose to simply pull Bartles' pokeball and toss him into the ring. In a flash of light, he appeared, crying his challenge at Brock, who nodded his approval. "Fine, then! Show me your best!" And, he drew a ball and threw it into the ring, starting the battle.

A geodude appeared, a strange boulder with a face and arms, levitating just off the ground. It pounded its fists together and roared in challenge.

"Tackle, geodude!" called Brock, and the slow Rock pokemon started to rumble forward.

"Bubble, Bartles!" said Chris, and Bartles took a sharp inhale. After just a moment he exhaled, firing a stream of iridescent bubbles at the geodude as it closed in. They impacted and popped with a surprisingly sharp snap, each one causing noticeable pain to the geodude. Chris got nervous. "Bartles, cut it off!"

Bartles snapped his jaw shut with a click and the bubbles ceased. The geodude quivered in place a moment, then collapsed into the ground. Being an animated rock, Chris couldn't tell if it was alright. He was about to approach when the beam of red appeared to draw it back to Brock.

"I appreciate the restraint," complimented Brock, "Geodude are sturdy, he'll be fine. I kind of expected that when you opened with a Water-type. But, now the real challenge." Chris sighed with relief and Brock's assurance, then watched as his pokeball produced an absolutely massive pokemon. A giant snake made of rock that towered to the ceiling stood over them, and even Bartles seemed a little intimidated. Brock did not hesitate.

"Onix, Tackle." He calmly said. The onix reared back before driving down.

"Bubble, Bartles!" Chris cried, and Bartles dove backwards, spraying bubbles as he went. They raked across the side of the onix with the same, powerful popping, and the pokemon roared, but held on and finished its attack, sending Bartles flying across the arena. It looked devastating, but Bartles seemed to land with little hindrance, immediately firing another barrage of Bubble.

Onix was more flagged by the first hit then it had let on, taking the attack with another roar and collapsing to the ground in a cloud of dust. Again, Chris was concerned, he hadn't thought the big pokemon would go down that easily. He moved forward after seeing Brock hop down from his podium to approach his onix. When he got closer, Chris could hear the big beast's breathing.

"There, there, buddy. Rest, you did great." Brock cooed soothingly. When he returned the onix to its pokeball he stood and turned to face Chris. "I took you for granted. As proof of your victory, here's the Boulderbadge!" He handed the small piece of metal to Chris. He held it up to the light to examine it, finding it matched the tops of the pillars in the entryway. "That's an official Pokemon League Badge. Its bearer's Pokemon become more powerful, both in that the pheromones it releases help boost defence, and that it allows you to evolve pokemon during your trial! The technique Flash can now be used any time, as well!"

Chris didn't really know what that last part meant. He popped open his Trainer License and found the corresponding slot. There was a chime, and when he closed the device, it had a read out congratulating him and updating him on the new rules. That done, he looked at Brock quizzically.

"Why did Bubble, even with the type difference, do so much damage? It is just bubbles, after all." Chris asked the more experienced trainer. Brock nodded knowingly.

"When a pokemon uses an attacking move, they are manifesting their very energy into it. So, the bubbles are not just bubbles. They have all the force and energy your pokemon can channel into them. And, type effectiveness can be even more important in certain situations. For example, onix is both Rock and Ground-type. Water both softens it hard skin and physically hurts it to the touch. Combine in your pokemon's energy in the form of an attack and the pain can be enough to make a pokemon pass out." He looked away thoughtfully for a moment. "Or kill them, if restraint isn't exercised," he mumbled.

Chris hung around a bit longer, making sure everyone was going to be alright, and then headed out. Before he could leave, though, Brock called out to him again.

"Wait! Take this with you!" He tossed Chris a disk. "That's a Technical Machine, you can use it with your License to teach your pokemon a new move. That one has Bide. It's situational, but if you have faith in your pokemon's defence, you can make a big hit come out."

Chris left the Gym in high spirits. It had gone fantastically, Bartles was level 13, and now he could evolve Lesle!


	7. Gym 1 Review

**Author Note:** So, I know I said I wasn't going to be doing many of these, but I'm doing this one now because I decided to do this thing. I'm going to separate the story by major story sections, i.e. Gym battles and Evil Organization sections, always culminating in the final battle of the section. So, this first section is Gym 1. For each of these sections, I'll be posting these chapters. Literally just my notes of the bullet points and major story beats.

But, because these chapters ended up getting far longer than I anticipated, I thought that including the major story beats for the impatient, or simply curious, would be worth while. Treat it as a Table of Contents, if you will. Though, I recently decided to put them at the end, after the sotry, so maybe as more of a Glossary? Regardless, if you are curious about my notes of the game, here they are. That said, Enjoy!

_**This will certainly contain SPOILERS for ANY and ALL potential DEATHS, so if you want to be surprised when they happen, DON'T READ THIS PAGE. I will include this disclaimer at the start of each of these chapters.**_

* * *

-Started game, named Chris

-Took Potion from PC

-Chose Squirtle: named Bartles

-Rival took Bulbasaur

-Won first rival fight w/ 2 hp

-Delivered parcel, received Pokedex

-Got map from Rival's sister

-Caught a Pidgey at level 3: named Elly

-Caught Nidoran Male at level 3: Named Mickey

-Grind to level 7

-Second rival fight, under leveled, very close call, rival's pidgey nearly swept team, Mickey saved the day by finishing pidgey then used type resistance to Leer down Bulbasaur so Bartles could finish him, used 2 potions.

-Caught Rattata at level 3: named Gustavo

-Caught Caterpie level 3: named Lesle

-Saved and quit in Viridian Forest

-First trainer battle in Forest, Gustavo got poisoned

-Used antidote

-Cleared the forest with no other incidents, Mickey proved immunity to poison

-First battle in Brock's gym, under leveled, scary moment with Gustavo clutching a kill with quick attack. Bartles having trouble even with bubble

-Grinding to 11

-Lesle being very much held in the back line until I can evolve.

-Elly encountered a Pikachu in Forest, took hard hit, won through greater power

-Pikachu came back for revenge, attacked Bartles, did heavy damage and paralyzed him, Bartles won through force of will

-After surviving a Pikachu sneak attack, Bartles found a core strength he didn't have before and swept Brock's team Mercilessly

-Gives TM that I can't use until I beat Misty

-Preparing to evolve Lesle

END


	8. Chapter 6

Riding the high of victory, Chris made his way down the hill and to the Pokemon Center. When he walked in, jigglypuff greeted him cheerily, and Pam was back behind the counter. She still looked tired, but she smiled warmly as Chris approached.

"Hey, Chris, all that training paid off, huh?" asked Pam, and Chris proudly displayed his new Boulderbadge, "Very nice, very nice, and you didn't lose anyone to get it. Always the best."

"Nope," Chris proudly replied, "Bartles took the whole fight solo. I definitely have a lot more to learn, especially about type advantages, but I feel good. I feel like I'm ready to keep going. But," and he grinned, "First I'm gonna go train with Lesle until she evolves!" Pam laughed as Chris gave a triumphant fist pump.

"Hey, give me your pokemon first, and maybe take a nap. You've had a big day already." She took Chris' pokemon and ushered him to his room, promising to bring them to him shortly.

He spent the rest of his day napping on and off, snuggling with his team, and researching type match ups through his License's apps, and any books they had at the Pokemon Center. It surprised him how helpful medical texts for treating specific types of pokemon injuries were. They discussed every type match up, super effective and not very effective, and the common wounds that occurred, and why. He confirmed what Brock had told him about Water-types and Rock/Ground-types.

It was after lunch that Chris finally headed back to Viridian Forest, planning to let Lesle practice against metapod and kakuna until she evolved. For hours, it worked perfectly. Chris spent the time seeking out individual pokemon, and Lesle quickly hit the point where she felt the need to make a cocoon of her own.

Interestingly, when Lesle evolved, Chris got a notification of it on his Trainer's License. A couple of taps and he was led to a page giving him new information on metapods, Lesle's new pokemon classification. Helpfully, it also had information on care for your new pokemon, very helpful when evolution could lead to an entirely new creature.

Chris quickly learned that Lesle maintained a measure of mobility, and by flexing her new shell, she actually could manage to fling herself into battle. That said, it was hardly effective, and the training slowed to an absolute crawl.

Chris ended up spending weeks hiking back and forth between Pewter's Center and Viridian Forest, throwing Lesle into battle after battle. Chris learned what happens when a pokemon runs out of the energy to use its moves, starting to Struggle wildly, doing damage, but harming themselves in the process.

Chris was in and out so often, the jigglypuff started greeting him like an old friend. Pam got so used to his presence that they started spending their down time together. On one of those days, she took Chris to the museum. He learned that she, and most Nurse Joy's, wore a wig to get that signature bright pink. On this day, her hair was short, straight, and black. Chris hardly recognized her.

"I haven't been to this museum since my first week here," she was saying, "but you were saying you'd never been, and I heard they've got a new exhibit of some sort." Chris could tell she was trying to be nonchalant, but her excitement was clear in the sparkle of her eyes.

"What kind of stuff do they show in general?" Chris asked.

"They double as a fossil research center, so most of their exhibits are of the 'very old' variety, but their claim to fame are these massive, complete skeletons of ancient pokemon." Her excitement getting the best of her, Pam started miming as she spoke. "One of them is this big bird thing with massive wings, and the other one has these wicked looking scythe arms!"

Chris stifled laughter as she hooked her wrists and wiggled her arms menacingly. Before long, they were walking in.

"Good morning," greeted a man in a lab coat behind a counter, "It's fifty for a child's ticket, one hundred for an adult." Chris was mildly disgruntled at that, but wasn't going to say no to a cheap ticket. "Thank you! Take plenty of time to look around."

"Don't worry about it, Chris, just enjoy the perks of youth while you can." Reassured Pam, tugging Chris into the building.

They perused the two complete skeletons on display, they labeled the one with the large wings Aerodactyl, and the other, with scythe arms, was Kabutops. He had laughed earlier, but Chris found Pam's pantomiming had been right on point. Seeing her now, Chris realized she must have been looking for an excuse to come, and he was glad to be it.

While they looked about, Chris noticed that behind the reception desk were more scientists doing their work. One of them was standing next to a huge, golden stone that seemed to be lit from beneath. Chris could see a dark core to it, that the scientist seemed to be prepping a drill that pointed straight toward that core.

Chris couldn't watch any longer as Pam pulled him towards the stairs to the second level.

"Come on! The new exhibit's up here!" exclaimed Pam, trotting up the stairs with Chris in tow. Another scientist greeted them at the top of the stairs.

"Hi, we have a space exhibit, now! It's been active for a while, but things move as slow as the stones in this town, so it's been 'new' since it opened." The man explained.

Chris and Pam set straight to exploring. It was cool seeing a meteorite, but what really caught his interest was the apparent model spacecraft. The plaque named it the 'SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA.' Chris was in the midst of examining it when an older lady startled him.

"July 20th, 1969!" cackled the woman, "The first lunar landing! I bought a color TV just to watch it…" Chris had so many questions about the implications of that, but the woman dottered away.

Pam and Chris enjoyed the rest of their day in each other's company, cracking jokes and making appointed comments about the dad who just promised to get his daughter a pikachu.

"The world feels like it goes nowhere, and changes constantly, all at the same time." Pam said after they'd left and were getting a late lunch. "I mean, the moon landing was so long ago, but the importance of it is still right here. I'm still a Nurse Joy in a tiny mountain town, but at least I'm still making new friends. Even if they're younger than me by a fair bit." Pam laughed. "Weird how it feels like sometimes that matters so much… There are kid trainers around here who I could never sit down and talk to, like this. They're too interested in their bug pokemon and their shorts. They're too immature." She seemed to realize what she was starting to say and scrunched her nose. "Don't get any funny ideas. I just mean that you are good company, unlike most kids your age. I couldn't be friends with them, invite them to go to a museum with me…"

She got quiet for a good while. Chris was content to leave her with her thoughts for a time. He understood that sometimes you just needed time to sort your thoughts. He also didn't really feel like sharing that his situation was different in how he was forced to mature, that he had an absentee father, and a mother battling depression. Didn't really seem important right now.

"I really miss Megan." She finally said, quietly. It was barely more than a whisper, but Chris felt like he was supposed to hear it.

"Then go see her." He said without hesitation. Pam side-eye'd him for a moment, then started grinning foolishly.

"Yeah, I will."

Chris got back to training for the latter half of the afternoon. Lesle seemed to be in high spirits, and Chris hoped that meant she would evolve soon. A couple of battles in and she was about as bouncy as a metapod could be. He figured it would be one more good battle, and he'd see her evolve again.

Just as he was pondering, a pokemon came walking into the path. A familiar yellow mouse was strolling along, only casually looking up as it walked along. As soon as it looked at Chris it froze, scrambling into a stand on its hind legs, pointing an accusing finger at him and squeaking angrily, accusatorily. Chris could not believe he kept stumbling across the seemingly only pikachu in all of Viridian Forest.

Chris figured this was as good a battle as any and summoned Lesle. She appeared in a shine of white, silent, but wriggling in excitement. The pikachu wasted no time and charged forward to deliver a painful Thundershock. Lesle took the hit in stride, flexed her shell, and sprang at the pikachu faster than it could react. She slammed into the pikachu, eliciting a cry, but not quite defeating it. Another shock came in, and again Lesle shrugged it off. Her final spring hit the pikachu square on its head. It stumbled, then finally fell back, unconscious.

Chris gave a cry of victory, cut short the sharp crack from Lesle's shell. He watched as the armor Lesle had worn for weeks now fell away; the eyes went dark, and her new form emerged from the shed cocoon, still bathed in light. Delicately, the light faded, revealing Lesle as the new butterfree she was, unfurling her large wings carefully. Chris cheered and applauded, Lesle fluttering up into the trees proudly.

By time they calmed down, the pikachu had vanished, but Chris thought that was fine. After clearing the notification from his License, Chris returned triumphantly to Pewter City, Lesle fluttering about with a new-found exuberance.

They marched into the Pokemon Center, posing proudly before Pam and the jigglypuff.

"Oh, now look at that!" she crowed, "She's beautiful. Has she learned Confusion, already?" Pam asked. Chris immediately felt deflated. He checked Lesle's read out on his License and found that she had not learned a new move since she was a caterpie. He gave a small groan, resigning himself to some more time in the forest.

The next day, however, he found the training was far easier now that Lesle had regained mobility. She quickly grew to another level. Just as Chris was thinking that this would not take nearly as long, an angry growling emanated from the underbrush. He and Lesle prepared themselves.

The same pikachu from before came out of the bushes. Chris, at this point, desperately wished he was able to catch this pokemon. It would be far easier than fighting it so often. It was not alone this time, though.

The pikachu barked behind itself, and another pikachu, a good deal larger than the first came out, growling angrily. Chris could guess it was a parent, or maybe an older sibling. He didn't think that pikachu lived in groups of any sort.

Either way, Chris reluctantly prepared for battle with Lesle. It wasn't much of a contest, though the electricity did seem to hurt Lesle more than it had previously. Regardless, soon they had the pikachus retreating into the forest. The smaller pikachu, that they had seen so many times, turned back once, chattering angrily, before finally disappearing again.

Chris had a feeling that they had overstayed their welcome.

"Come on, Lesle," he said, "I think it's high time we moved on." Pam seemed surprised to see them back so soon.

"Thought you'd be gone all day, again, making Lesle stronger." She said.

"Yeah," Chris mumbled, "I just feel like we might be starting to damage the actual ecosystem of Viridian Forest. The pikachu, in particular, seemed bothered by our constant training there. I think it's time we move on to Route 3." He declared.

Pam nodded knowingly, collecting his pokemon onto a tray and taking them back to be healed.

"Well," she said, returning, "I imagine I'll be seeing you for a little while, yet. Trainers like to gather at the base, there. So, I imagine you'll be coming back here to keep your team in shape." She was smiling almost sadly. "Just let me know when you're gonna make the final hike up to Mt. Moon. There's an emergency Pokemon Center up in the foothills, right outside the entrance to the tunnel that passes through to Cerulean. I imagine, at that point, I won't be seeing you again. So, just don't forget to say goodbye."

"That's stupid!" Chris declared, "I would never forget to say goodbye! And, I would definitely come back. We are friends. We won't stop being friends just because I'll continue my journey. Besides, I've promised both my mom and Megan that I'd come back, so why wouldn't I come see you, too?"

Pam was shocked, then exploded in laughter. The laughter was so sudden jigglypuff was startled and puffed in alarm. Pam held a hand over her face, but Chris could see that her eyes were damp. The large grin she wore told him what that meant. She composed herself and smiled warmly.

"I'd like that, Chris," she said, "I'd like that very much."

Chris headed to his room, determined to think. He released all his pokemon into the space; he let everyone stretch a bit and meet Lesle in her new form, which a couple of them hadn't gotten to do yet. Chris, however, lied down to think.

He wondered at the state of the world. The laws that everyone danced around, or bemoaned. The responses the people who were intricately tied into the system had for him. He thought about his mother. He came to a decision that everyone seemed lonely.

Chris thought about his mom, and how delighted she'd been to have a pokemon in the house, suddenly. He didn't know what her life was like before him, but clearly it involved pokemon and she seemed to miss them dearly. Oak was actively fed up with the rules, angry and choosing to take active steps to oppose them. Both Megan and Pam seemed to take the hardship without restriction, having to see trainers come and go, happy and sad, sometimes with less pokemon than the last time they'd seen them. Having a trainer choose to get to know them, to promise to visit them again, to call them friend, had driven them both to tears. Chris knew, at least, that he would make an effort to get to know every Nurse in every Pokemon Center he entered. They deserved his time of day.

Chris even thought about Yari. How angry and confrontational he was, but he was here, on his own, sent away from his parents, maybe his siblings, to a great grandfather that was too tired and busy to care for him, and aunt that was nice, but not involved. How lonely must he be, Chris thought.

How lonely was I, came the next, unbidden intrusion. Chris thought of his birthday, two months ago now, and how ready he was to run away from it all and hide out in the fields until he could pretend it wouldn't happen. He was ready to stay in a town where he had no friends, no kids his age at all, and nothing to do. It was all he thought he had. And, now, here he was, preparing to scale a mountain to continue his journey through the world. He had a small family, and he looked over the five pokemon, playing and wrestling on the floor.

No matter what way his thoughts lead, he knew he had to do something about this oppressive system that was allowing some to prosper, but it beat anyone with any sense of compassion down. That was why Chris needed to beat the Elite 4 without resorting to killing pokemon, as Professor Oak asked. He needed to become a model for other trainers. Someone that they would want to idolize.

But, just as important, he needed to become the Champion in order to have a say over the governmental proceedings of the region. The Champion wasn't a dictator, by any means, but they held their say in high regard, as they were powerful agents of public opinion.

But what about the other regions? He knew Kanto didn't exist in a vacuum. Even if he could only find so many pokemon here, of course other regions had portions of the greater world pokemon population available to them, and thus their own Leagues, their own governmental bodies. But, they all held a seat in the International Pokemon League, which was the true organization that laid the new laws across all trainers. How would Chris get enough influence there to make a difference?

As he thought heavy thoughts and conjured grand ideas, Chris drifted off. He dreamt of pokemon the world over standing by him, all around him, ready.

Ready for something.


	9. Chapter 7

The entrance to Route 3 was a gently sloping incline between two cliff faces. It plateaued into the steppes of an old terraced farm, three levels divided by decrepit retaining walls. The cliff sides continued forward, forming an ally Chris looked down, now. He set himself forward, prepared for the trainer gauntlet they had promised him.

Chris had just passed the gate marking the Pewter City boundary when a girl walked in front of him, turning to face him with a smile.

"Hey," called the lass, "You looked at me, didn't you?" And, with that, she called out her pidgey, and Chris accepted the battle. But, it went quickly, Lesle clearly having more experience than either pidgey the girl had. After the second pokemon fell, Chris' License pinged, notifying him to Lesle's level up and the addition of Confusion to her approved move pool. Chris punched the air in victory, but the lass was less than pleased. She crossed her arms and huffed when he walked over.

"You're mean!" She declared, leaving Chris at a loss. As he continued to stand there, she glared at him and pulled out the pokeball of the pidgey he'd just beaten. "You wanna go again, huh?" Chris shook his head.

"No, no, I just wanted to talk a second." He explained, hands up defensively.

"Well, quit staring if you don't want to fight." She said as she walked away, presumably to take care of her pokemon. Chris shrugged and continued on, turning left to head up the steppes.

At the top of the next rise, another trainer stepped forward, this one Chris recognized, though.

"Hey! I met you in Viridian Forest!" said the bug catcher as he jogged up to Chris. Chris recognized him as the one who was willing to talk to him about evolved pokemon. Michael, he thought.

"Hey, yeah! How's it going?" Chris greeted him. He shrugged.

"Not too bad, but I only just got into the Route. A strange guy was blocking the way and directing everyone to the Gym. It was weird, he wasn't here a month ago, but people in town said he just showed up a couple weeks ago." Michael tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "People in town were also talking about thieves being caught in Mt. Moon recently. They even put up a sign. I wonder if they are related…"

"Thieves?" asked Chris, "What would they even be stealing from the mountain?"

"Don't you know?" Michael challenged, "All of Mt. Moon is public land, but all mining rights are strictly restricted. They say it's because the old mining projects left some of the caves unstable, but it's also because fossils were discovered, and the Pokemon League put a lock down on fossils for research purposes. That's why the museum got established. Doesn't stop thieves from trying to get some for themselves to sell to collectors, though."

They both looked up the mountain for a moment, and Chris wondered at the gall of some people.

"Anyway, you up for a rematch?" Michael asked hopefully. Chris nodded his consent and summoned Lesle. Michael's eyes went wide. "A butterfree?! That means you beat Brock! That's awesome! And, you even restrict your pokemon's attacks so they aren't lethal." He looked down at his pokeball, and Chris could see a sticker on the top of a sparkling caterpie. Michael smiled and tossed it forward. "Anyway, let's battle!"

Michael, to his credit, had done a good job of raising his pokemon since Chris had last seen him. His caterpie and weedle hadn't evolved, but they were definitely stronger. However, Chris learned the value of evolved pokemon. Lesle was just too powerful for them to handle, the ability to fly literally putting her above them. Which is not to say they didn't do some damage. Regardless, the battle ended swiftly.

"Ah, man," Michael lamented, "You beat me again!" Chris congratulated him on his progress, recommended training a bit more and taking on Brock. Then, he headed back to get Lesle healed. There was no reason to put his pokemon at risk while traveling through unknown territory.

On his way back through the town gate, Chris noticed the sign Michael had been talking about. It read: "NOTICE: Thieves have been stealing pokemon fossils at Mt. Moon! Please call Pewter Police with any info!" followed by a phone number for the local police's direct line. He talked to a few people on his walk back to the Center, but most knew just as much as Michael did.

One man, though, was speaking rather loudly on the phone inside the Pokemon Center when Chris arrived. His hair was in a tight fade, but long on top, and he wore a trench coat.

"What?! It's Team Rocket inside Mt. Moon? Impossible. They were disbanded years ago." Chris started to approach, but the man seemed to notice him approaching immediately, "Hold on. Huh? I'm on the phone. Scram, kid." And, he walked away, keeping his voice down so Chris could hear no more.

As he got his team healed, Chris asked Pam what she knew.

"Thieves in Mt. Moon is old news, Chris," explained Pam, "Ever since they said, 'You can't have those.' a bunch of people said, 'Now I want those.' And, the thieving began." Chris nodded at the terrible logic of that.

"What about Team Rocket, who are they?" Asked Chris. Pam cocked her head at him.

"That's right," she mused, "you're young enough to not remember their terror in the region. To be fair, I wasn't born yet, either, but it was still being talked about when I was in school. They were a criminal organization that grew big and brazen enough to stop being secretive and blatantly identify themselves. They reeked all kinds of havoc in their prime, holding up Mt. Moon, robbing people, stealing pokemon, even holding the entirety of Silph Co., the major industrial company of the world, for ransom." It amazed Chris, as he started leaning in with excitement.

"What happened to them, if they were so powerful?" he asked.

"Well," she continued, "their major strength was that they had a leader that never revealed his identity. He was a mystery right up until they all just vanished. No one knows exactly what happened. The Pokemon League couldn't do much, the few grunts they were able to capture didn't even know who the big boss was. But, a rumor got circulated that a single trainer wormed his way inside, defeated the Team Rocket leader himself, and exposed his identity to the League. It makes sense, even if it is just a rumor, because one day they just seemed to vanish. Poof, the whole gang, gone." She thought for a moment. "I heard they moved to Johto for a bit, but they never got a foothold which is hard to do if you've lost your leader."

Chris headed back out that same day, wanting to make some more progress toward Mt. Moon. The rumors of Mt. Moon troubled him, but it wasn't going to stop his progress.

The next group of trainers Chris met were of a particular sort. They shared a certain fascination.

"Hi! I like shorts!" Declared the first youngster, "They're comfortable and easy to wear!" Chris defeated him swiftly, and learned his name was Joey, but met his enforcer on the steppe below.

"Hey!" He shouted accusingly, eyeing Chris up and down, "You're not wearing shorts!" His spearow was strong, and Lesle had to be switched with Gustavo for safety, but he wasn't too much of a challenge.

Moving on from that particular oddity, Chris faced another bug catcher, and another lass that also had the same predilection with where Chris was looking.

"That look you gave me," said the girl with eyes wide, "it's so intriguing…" Chris shared a look with Mickey, but the battle itself wasn't nearly as upsetting. They cleaned up easily. The final fight of the old farm was similarly no problem.

Chris turned the corner, seeing that the valley opened up a bit, he realized that he was most likely through the densest concentration of trainers. The next stretch dipped into a grassy vale. He worried that this would be the last stretch before he was too far into the route to warrant returning, so he turned around and headed back to the city. It was time to say goodbye to Pam, and maybe stock up on supplies.

Night had fallen by the time he reached the Center. Walking in, Chris found the lobby to be empty. Pam was leaning on the counter, dozing, and even the jigglypuff was asleep. It worried him that he wouldn't have the chance to say goodbye properly in the morning, so he walked up and quietly knocked on the counter.

Pam straightened with a start, immediately launching into her scripted greeting.

"Welcome to our Pokemon Center! We heal your… oh, it's you, Chris. You scared the crap outta me." She held a hand to her chest as she breathed deeply. Her outburst had woken jigglypuff, who was now grumbling and rolling back over to sleep.

"Sorry about that," said Chris, "but I think I've finally hit the point of no return on Route 3. This might be the last time I come back here, for a bit. I wanted to say goodbye, for now, properly." Chris was sad. He had a feeling this was gonna be an ongoing trend in his adventure. Meeting people, bonding, moving on again.

Pam, for her part, smiled, coming around the counter and giving him a hug that lasted long enough for Chris to feel a tear hit his hair. As she pulled away, she wiped her eyes.

"I'm not sure exactly how I should feel," she said, "The best friend I've found since moving to Pewter is a literal child." She laughed and tousled Chris' hair. "Don't take that badly, I was never one for societal limitations. You're a good person, and that's the most important part. No matter what, don't lose that." Chris gave her a nod.

They spent the rest of the night chatting, talking about anything and everything. Night grew longer, and they began sitting in comfortable silence between bouts of conversation. It was during one of these pauses that the night really started to weigh on Chris. He was about to announce as much, but Pam spoke first.

"When you leave…" she started, "I'm gonna finally head down to see Megan. It's been too long, and I miss her. We used to be really close. I wonder if she'll be happy to see me?"

"I think she will be. I mean, you're super cool after all." replied Chris. Pam laughed.

"It's a little more complicated than that, but I hope you're right. Thanks, too. You're pretty cool yourself." She chuckled, grinning and letting the silence settle in again.

Chris didn't let it hang for long, this time, before announcing he needed sleep. Pam wished him a good night and retreated to a small office behind the desk to sleep herself. Chris headed towards his own room. Just before he left the lobby, he noticed that jigglypuff was awake and watching him. He smiled and gave it a wave. It seemed sad.

Chris felt too tired to address that properly, heading to his room and plopping down with a satisfied sigh. He thought for a moment he heard music as he drifted off, but then he was gone to his dreams.

The morning came quickly, and Chris felt incredibly refreshed. He and Pam shared a knowing smile, but both felt content in their goodbyes from the night before, so they said little to each other. Chris petted the jigglypuff on the head, but it was looking decidedly grumpy this morning. He didn't pay it too much mind and headed out.

He made the decision to stop by the Poke Mart to stock up on items before heading up the mountain. He didn't know how long he would be traversing Mt. Moon, and he wanted to be prepared for anything. Just before he entered the shop, his eyes caught some movement. He turned to look, but nothing was there. He shrugged and entered the building.

Inside, everything was the standard he'd come to expect, though the stock did seem slightly bigger. As he approached the counter he could vaguely overhear someone complain about the pokemon he bought. It raised questions in Chris' mind, but first he had some shopping to do.

He kept it simple, a box of Potions, but the cashier did make a convincing sale's pitch for an Escape Rope, which was just a rope with a good grappling hook on the end.

"It's good because the caves in Mt. Moon have a lot of tunnels that come in from above because of the mining operations. You use an Escape Rope and you can get to those tunnels, and bada boom you're outta there without nary a pokemon encounter!" Chris bought one.

Headed out of the city and through the old rice paddies, Chris continued to see the strange movement that sat just out of sight, occasionally appearing at the corners of his vision only to be nothing when he finally looked. It was making Chris uneasy. He started wondering who, or what, it could be. Was the strange trench coated man following him? Did he hear something on that phone call he shouldn't have? Chris was getting paranoid.

He reached the point he had achieved previously, where the valley opened up. From his elevated vantage point, he could see a girl was at the edge of the tall grass. He decided to see if maybe she could help him with his stalker. At least tell him if anyone followed him when he passed by.

"Excuse me!" he called as he approached, "I was hoping you could-" Chris couldn't finish though, as the girl suddenly spun about in a panic.

"Eek! Did you touch me?!" She threw a pokeball at Chris. He dodged it, and a jigglypuff appeared. Chris sighed and called out his own pokemon. The battle was extended only because her jigglypuff kept his pokemon asleep with its singing, but it did not hit very hard, so eventually he prevailed.

"Jeez, I just wanted to ask you for some help!" Chris cried out. The girl, having calmed down, looked confused.

"Is that it?" asked the lass, "I thought you were some kind of creepy pervert." Chris couldn't help but facepalm in frustration, but he laid out his request. "Oh, yeah, I can do that. Anything to help another vulnerable soul!" Chris had to physically fight to stop himself from slapping his own face again.

Regardless, Chris dipped into the grass to hide while the girl kept her eyes out for any suspicious characters. As he crawled through, he stumbled across a pair of pidgey nesting together. He had a moment to appreciate that he had already caught Elly, but then he heard the girl squeal.

Chris dashed out of the grass, prepared to confront his pursuer. He crested a hill that he had put between himself and the path. He stopped at the peak, scanning the area. The girl was kneeling on the ground with her jigglypuff, but no one else was in sight. He stayed on his perch for a moment, scanning up and down the trail, but, again, he saw no one else. He jogged down to the girl.

"Hey," he called as he approached, "What's going on? I heard you call out." She spun on him as he approached, the same wild nervousness in her eyes, but she remembered who he was and calmed herself instantly.

"Sorry, this jigglypuff appeared, and it's just so cute! Oh, if I didn't already have one I'd catch you right away!" She fawned over the pokemon, rubbing her face against it with intense zeal.

Chris huffed, annoyed after all the stress he felt being followed being waylaid by this girls enthusiasm for the jigglypuff. As he looked at the jigglypuff, though, and the way it looked at him, almost trying to pull away from the girl towards him, some pieces began to fall into place.

"Wait a second," said Chris as he got closer, "You're the jigglypuff from the Pokemon Center?!" The jigglypuff cried out excitedly, confirming his suspicions. He saw it take a breath, knew what was coming and clapped his hands over his ears. The jigglypuff started to sing, and the girl resisted, perhaps because she had a jigglypuff of her own, but soon she succumbed and slumped to the ground, releasing her grip.

The jigglypuff bounced happily to Chris and nuzzled his legs.

"Were you following me all this way out of town?" It nodded. "Were you hiding so no one would try to capture you?" It nodded. "Do you want me to capture you so you can come with me?" It nodded aggressively. "Well, technically you are the first novel pokemon I've encountered on Route 3… Yeah, you can join the team."

Chris smiled and held up his pokeball. The jigglypuff gave a small hop of joy then lunged at the ball, hitting it and triggering the capture. The ball didn't even shake. Chris named her Dara.

The rest of the walk through the valley was uneventful. Down the valley a bit, the canyon walls took a hard left, cutting uphill once again. At the top of that final hill, Chris could see the red roof of a Pokemon Center.

"That's our next checkpoint." he muttered to himself and started the calf burning trek up the hill.


	10. Chapter 8

The Mt. Moon Pokemon Center was quiet, and rustic. It seemed to have the bare minimum of facilities, unlike the two city based Centers Chris had experienced so far. Unlike the other two, there were not individual rooms, but rather a single communal bunk room with an array of secure lockers to store your items while you slept. Most of the people Chris saw were rugged types, obviously experienced hikers, well equipped campers, and the occasional younger trainer who looked a bit out of their depth.

Chris made a point to introduce himself to the Nurse Joy. She was an older woman, stooped, but energy sparkled behind her eyes, and she seemed to always be watching something in the room. Her hair was the kind of bright pink that only came from dyes.

"Hello," greeted Chris, "my name's Chris."

"Welcome to our Pokemon Center." She smiled warmly, "We heal your pokemon back to perfect health. Shall I heal your pokemon?" Chris nodded, slotting his pokeballs into the offered carrier.

"Of course," he said, sliding the tray across the counter, "Do you mind if I ask, what's your name?" She turned away from her machine and looked at him curiously.

"Nurse Joy." She said matter-of-factly, almost mockingly. Chris shook his head.

"I know that's your title, and what most people call you, but what's your name? Like, I met Megan in Viridian, and Pam in Pewter. So, what's your name?" Chris pressed further. The Nurse Joy was still looking at him funnily, but it soon broke into a grin as she started to laugh.

"My name is Erica," stated the older woman, "Erica Joy." She chuckled again, returning Chris' pokemon. Chris was wide eye'd.

"Wait, you're actually Nurse Joy? You are really from the Joy family?" asked Chris excitedly. Erica nodded her confirmation. "That's amazing! I thought the family moved on from pokemon care when the new laws were enacted." Erica smiled sadly.

"Yes," she confirmed, "most of the family went on strike with the legalization of pokemon death during battles. And, when the Pokemon League simply started a campaign to hire and train nurses to take our place, a lot of the family gave up. There were many people out there who wanted to be nurses, working with pokemon, but they felt restricted since the field was dominated overwhelmingly by my family. So, when the League offered up the chance, there was an impressive number of applicants. Soon, the entire Joy family decided to retire, or change careers, some even taking up protesting the new laws." Her sad eyes searched the ceiling. "Last I heard, there were some still doing it, refusing to give up.

"I was retired, had taken up a house in Pewter, lived quietly, helped out where I could. One day, Brock came knocking on my door. He knew who I was of course, and he let me know that the nurse up here, one of the new recruits had quit. She apparently complained about the low tech nature of this outpost, the rough patrons, the isolation. Well, I didn't want to do it, I was well and truly retired, but Brock can be so flattering." She paused in her tale, helping a hiker who had come in.

"Whew… I better take a rest," groaned the big man, "That tunnel from Cerulean takes a lot out of you!" Chris felt a churning in his stomach, again, but tried his best to ignore it.

Chris thought about what Erica had told him so far. How massively the new laws had upset most areas of life in the world, completely displacing a family passion and profession that spanned decades and continents. He couldn't imagine what could have led the league to decide that this was the best course of action. Erica returned with a mug of something steaming. It smelled of coffee but was a milky white.

"Sorry about that, Chris, where was I," she sighed as she settled onto a stool behind the counter, "Ah, yes, Brock convinced me to take up this station, but I told him that the League would have to make it good for me if I was going to do it. I demanded a pay double what was standard, as well as a stipend to pay for upgrades for the facilities here. Figured if I was going to be a part of the system again, I was going to make it worth it. I've been here for a good handful of years, now… Brock comes up every once and a while to visit. His personal thank you, I suppose. But, solitude was what I was looking for anyway when I retired. This suits me just fine."

Chris stayed and listened to her stories for the rest of the afternoon, into the evening, until his eyes were barely staying open. Despite his fatigue, Erica was still spritely and chattering on. She did seem to notice Chris flagging, however, and stopped chattering to step around the counter and guide him to one of the bunks. Many bunks were already taken.

"Sorry, Erica, it's been a long day." Apologized Chris. Erica shushed him.

"I'm going to keep your things with me, tonight. Don't want to put your things in a locker when I can't give you a key. Come see me in the morning and I'll have them for you." Chris mumbled his agreement and Erica walked back to her desk.

Retreating behind it, she walked back into her expanded living space. She was very happy she could use the funds she demanded to make the Center more habitable for the next nurse, but at the moment she was content to take her a break in her soft bed. She couldn't help but think fondly of Chris.

"Haven't seen a boy with that spirit in a good long while," she said aloud, "I can't wait to see what he's capable of."

When the morning came, Chris awoke to find that most of the temporary tenants had already left. Chris walked up to the counter and found Erica dutifully manning the desk.

"Morning, sleepy head," greeted the old nurse, "You missed the morning rush, though I get the feeling that suits you just fine." As she spoke, she pulled Chris' bag from under the counter and laid it out for him. He thanked her and grabbed it, choosing to step outside for what he wanted to do next. He immediately noticed that it was surprisingly dark, despite the fact that it was relatively late in the morning. He could see sunlight high on the canyon walls. It took him a moment to process that Mt. Moon itself was blocking the sunlight with the high valley walls being to the east and west. He looked over at the cave entrance, but an anxiety swelled within him, and he turned away.

Beside the Pokemon Center, past a girl rubbing her feet and complaining about geodude, there was an open space of low grass that would make a beautiful picnic spot. Chris settled in and released all his pokemon into the grass. Bartles hadn't been out for a bit, and he immediately started stretching and running about with manic energy. Elly took flight and did a quick circle before diving hard, giving Chris a panic before she pulled up hard and landed gently beside Mickey, who had already settled in to a nap in the sun. Gustavo came out with a mighty yawn and started sniffing about curiously, and Lesle made joyous noises and settled onto Chris' shoulder, like she used to.

Dara, meanwhile, with all the enthusiasm she had shown before, now stood behind Chris' legs apprehensively. It took the other pokemon a moment to notice. Mickey was the first to twitch his ears and look up, having sensed the new presence. It dominoes until Bartles, at last, noticed everyone staring, ceased his running, and approached Dara, still cowering.

"Everyone," started Chris, "This is Dara. Some of you have already met her. She's a part of the team, now." Chris watched as all of their faces went from him as he spoke, to Dara as soon as he finished. Bartles tried to approach, and Dara hid further. Abashed, he stepped back, looking disappointed.

Chris was beginning to fear no progress was going to be made, when he felt Lesle lift from his shoulder and start fluttering behind him on her gossamer wings. Dara did not seem to notice, though she did notice everyone else shift their attention from her to something above and behind her. Just as she started to turn, Lesle landed on her head and Dara froze.

Chris could hear Lesle humming in a pleasant, melodic tone. He worried it would only panic Dara further, but she instead started to sway with the rhythm, and then hum along. Chris then remembered that of all his pokemon, Dara had seen Lesle the most, with all the time he spent training in Viridian Forest. With Lesle's intervention, Chris' other pokemon began to approach, and slowly Dara got introduced to them all, Chris saying their names in turn.

With introductions finished, Chris laid back and watched his pokemon begin to play. While they ran about, chasing each other and exploring the valley in sight, Chris pulled up his License to check data on Dara. He was mildly dismayed to see that she had only one accessible move, being Sing. He made the decision to train with her for a bit before entering the mountain itself. He needed her to learn something damaging.

But, for now, he thought, watching his pokemon play, everyone deserves a little break.

It was shortly after noon, Chris noticed that the sun was actually now starting to creep behind the western canyon wall. He called everyone back and herded them back to the Center for lunch.

He got everyone gathered around a table with a minimum of trouble and started doling out food into individual bowls. Just as he put down the last bowl to let Gustavo start eating, a man approached him from across the room.

"Hello, there!" Greeted the man as he approached. Chris took note of his dark glasses and sly grin and instinctively put himself between the man and his pokemon.

"My, what beautiful pokemon you have!" he continued, "You must either be very lucky or a very talented trainer! Regardless, have I got a deal just for you!" He grinned and rubbed his hands as he spoke. Chris did not know men outside of cartoon villains could look so overtly villainous.

"I don't think I want anything you're offering. Thank you, but I'm good." Chris tried to politely decline.

"Oh, come now. I'll let you have this rare pokemon, a swell magikarp, for just five hundred bucks!" He laughed, but was cut off by Erica calling out from behind her counter.

"You leave that boy alone, you con artist!" Chris could see that her face was beet red with rage, she looked at him, "Don't listen to a word he says, Chris. I would have had him out of here weeks ago if the police weren't so occupied in Mt. Moon." Chris, though shook his head at her.

"It's fine, Ms. Erica," turning back to the man, letting his voice lilt with false naivety, "Just five hundred for a pokemon? That's incredible! But, I've already caught a pokemon in the area, so I can't take the rare pokemon, no matter how much I want to." Chris did his best to sell it, and the man didn't bother thinking about it.

"Oh, but that's the fantastic thing about it! Pokemon received from other people don't count towards your area catch limit! It's perfect! What do you say?" He was practically giddy. Chris turned back to Erica.

"Is that true, Ms. Erica?" asked Chris. Erica looked dismayed.

"Yes, technically. It's an exception, it's the only way to not punish trainers who choose to trade." Chris nodded and directed a big, goofy grin at the grifter.

"I'll take him!" The man hooted for joy, holding out his hand. Chris produced five hundred credits and traded them for the pokeball.

"Ah ha! The last one sold! Time to go report in! I don't give refunds!" and the man ran from the Center.

Erica was holding her head in her hand, shaking it in disbelief. Chris approached, holding the pokeball out.

"I can't believe you," she moaned, "I thought you were smarter than that! Magikarp have potential, sure, but they are nearly useless without months of dedicated training, and even then…" Chris continued to walk forward.

"Oh, I don't care," asserted Chris, "No pokemon deserves to be owned by a man like that. Look, he registered with me, already." He started tapping at his Trainer License as he spoke, "I'll name him Excellion. Would you mind checking him out and making sure he's healthy? I won't be able to carry him with me on the team, so I want to make sure he's okay before I put him in the PC." Chris held out the ball again.

Erica's mouth hung open for a minute as she sized up Chris again. The whiplash of seeing him as an idiot, then realizing that he might be an idiot, but a big hearted one, left her in shock. Finally, she gathered herself and took the ball. She looked at it for a moment, then up at the face of the serious boy in front of her.

"Chris," she said solemnly, "You are truly one of a kind." Erica took Excellion's ball and released him into a tank specifically for aquatic pokemon. He was small, not quite as large as a soccer ball, and Chris thought he was relatively demure. Every other pokemon he had ever encountered was lively in one way or another. Either with lots of physical energy, or a very clear spirit even if they were particularly hyper. Excellion, though, seemed to be empty. Chris wondered if he'd even struggle if they took him out of the tank.

Erica performed her exam quickly, returning Excellion and giving the ball to Chris.

"He's fine." said the nurse, "A bit underweight for his age, but probably has been in the pokeball pretty much since hatching. Excellion is weak, even for a magikarp. I'd say he is stunted. I'm sorry." She hung her head a bit, a sense of pity washing over her for the poor pokemon.

Chris just shrugged.

"I don't need him to battle. I think I've got a solid team, as is, and like I said, I just wanted him to not be in the hands of that idiot." Chris left the counter with a shamed Erica sitting behind it. She had to take a break from work and reflect on herself, wondering where she'd lost her simple compassion, only thinking of the survival and battle effectiveness of every pokemon she treated. Simply hoping they'd live through their next fight so she could treat them again. She'd forgotten that sometimes pokemon can just live.

Chris took the ball over the PC. He looked at Excellion's ball for a time, thinking of what to do exactly. He did not want to simply doom Excellion to a continued life of containment. With that in mind, Chris picked up the attached phone and followed the prompts to call Professor Oak.

The graphic on the screen of a dancing pokemon lasted for several seconds before it was replaced by Oak's shoulder and hand holding the receiver.

"Harold! Get in here," shouted Oak, off screen, "I've got a call from a trainer and I need you to take care of the ditto! No, you won't need that. No, you won't! It's not like last time, different ditto. They are not all the same, that's just ignorant!" Finally, he returned his focus to the screen. "Sorry about that, Chris, I was in the middle of an experiment. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Professor, if it's not a good time, I can call back later." Chris explained. Oak shook his head smiling.

"No, don't worry, we are here, now. Speaking of here, where are you?" Oak asked, peering around the screen, trying to see the room. "I don't recognize that Center, and I know most of them…"

"I'm at the entrance to Mt. Moon's tunnel to Cerulean. I haven't gone in yet." he reported. Oak looked surprised and he searched around the screen even harder.

"Really? It looks nothing like I remember, used to be little more than a shack." Observed the professor.

"Yeah, the Nurse Joy here has been renovating. But, that's not really-" started Chris, but Oak got more interested in the Center.

"A Nurse Joy is renovating a Center? A Nurse Joy _cares_ enough to renovate a Center? Who is it?" Oak questioned.

"Uh, Erica Joy?"Chris explained. Oak's eyes went wide.

"A _real_ Joy is working in a Center?! I thought the whole clan had given up and moved on! Who's blackmailing her?" He seemed to collect himself a bit. "Sorry, Chris, I should probably explain. See, most 'Nurse Joy's' have the title, but-"

"Professor!" interjected Chris, silencing the old man, "I already know about the whole Nurse Joy situation. That's not why I called." Oak composed himself and apologized, Chris continued, "I rescued this magikarp from a seedy guy who was trying to sell him. I don't have any more space on my team, so I was hoping I could send him to you, and you could keep him out of his pokeball and let him grow a bit."

"Well, I suppose I could," he pondered, "But, why not just store it in the PC system? It holds the pokemon in stasis, they don't even know any time has passed when you withdraw them, again."

"Mostly, I don't want to, I'd rather keep them all with me, though I know that's not possible," admitted Chris, "But, in this case, I just feel like this magikarp deserves better. He's a little stunted, a little malnourished because of how he was treated, and I just think he deserves better."

"Well," Oak grinned, "Isn't that just the mentality. Yes, Chris, you can send that magikarp to me. I'll keep him in a tank here in the lab, monitor him for a bit, and if he gets strong enough I'll put him in one of the ponds outside the lab."

"Thank you, Professor," sighed Chris, "This means a lot to me." Oak nodded, smiling, but got distracted by something off screen.

"Of course, Chris, just use the PC like normal, then set the destination to me manually. That will…" said Oak distractedly, finally needing to address whatever had caught his eye, "Harold! How did it even know what your ex-girlfriend looks like?! I gotta go, Chris, send me the magikarp. Goodbye. Step back-!" With that the feed cut off. Chris chuckled and slotted Excellion's ball into the PC.

He used the screen to select the Deposit option. It then gave him a selection of boxes numbered one through twenty. at the bottom left was an option reading 'Other.' He clicked it, and immediately selected 'Contacts.' He saw Oak's name at the top and moved to click it, but paused when he noticed another name was on the list as well, Bill. Chris had no idea who Bill was, but he wasted no time on puzzling over it. He selected Oak and watched as the pokeball was deconstructed. A moment later, he got a confirmation message and nodded in satisfaction.

With that finished, Chris bid goodbye to Erica and headed out and down the mountain to start training Dara for battles. They hiked down to the valley floor once again. Once there, Chris worked out the best way to teach Dara how to fight. He settled on having Dara use Sing first, putting the wild pokemon to sleep, then bringing out Bartles to start coaching. Chris chose Bartles simply because he and Dara had the most similar body types. Chris hoped Dara could potentially pick up Bartles fighting style, sans the water.

Several days later, Dara learned the move Pound, officially allowing her the ability to fight on her own. As Chris looked up the vale at the peak of Mt. Moon hanging over him, a wave of fear washed over him. Maybe a few more days of grinding would be a good idea.


	11. Chapter 9

Chris stood at the entrance to Mt. Moon for several minutes, staring into the yawning depths of the cave and imagining all the potential horrors within. The feeling had been mounting for days, but with no frame of reference, it had taken Chris up until he faced the tunnel directly to realize he was afraid of going in the tunnel itself.

"You're claustrophobic." Erica said later, when Chris had retreated. "It's when you're afraid of tight places and can't really control your fear. For some people it's about really small places, like closets or pantries. For others it's just the idea of a place that they can't escape from, like a cave." She looked at Chris pointedly.

"Well," asked Chris, "what do I do then? I need to get through to go to Cerulean." Erica shrugged.

"You just have to get over it." She said pointedly, "I know that sounds harsh, but it's called exposure therapy. The quickest way to overcome a fear is to confront it. As soon as you experience the need to overcome, you will be able to better rationalize away the fear. So, get out there and just do it."

As they talked Chris, heard something come over a radio in front of one of the hiker patrons. He wasn't paying it any mind, but a single phrase snapped his full attention.

"...attacks on Cerulean citizens, and a local reported, 'They looked just like Team Rocket from so many years ago. Black uniform with an emblazoned, red 'R' on their chest." Chris heard. He could no longer focus on his own issues.

"Ms. Erica," asked Chris, looking back at the nurse, "do you know anything about Team Rocket?" Erica's jovial expression darkened.

"Team Rocket," she muttered, "Team Rocket was always in the news, a decade or so ago. They kicked up their criminal activity and tried to get control of some very powerful items and tools, and no one really knows why. But, as quickly as they rose, they vanished." Erica looked out the glass doors. "When the fossil thieves started increasing in number, I'd heard rumors that it was people wearing Rocket uniforms. I didn't think much of it. Team Rocket has been blamed for every negative occurrence since they were disbanded. But… maybe this time it should have been taken more seriously." She looked serious and thoughtful. Chris excused himself and left her to her thoughts.

Chris stepped out of the Center and took a deep breath of the mountain air. He took a moment to think about the continued rumors of Team Rocket. The first he'd heard of them was too suspicious to ignore, a man discussing them over the phone in frantic tones, and they being brought up again was too much of a coincidence for Chris to ignore. Something about it just made him strangely excited.

Chris looked up at Mt. Moon. He couldn't help but imagine these cartoonishly villainous characters, running about and causing havoc. In their stylized suits, with wacky gadgets and mean looking pokemon, they'd act more like a nuisance than a real threat. Chris knew the sensation was childish, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he could be some kind of hero by taking them on.

Thinking of what Erica told him, Chris held on to this feeling of burgeoning excitement. He headed back into the Center, bringing out his team at the counter.

"Hey, Ms. Erica, can you give my team a quick refresh? I'm gonna head into the mountain. I think it's time." Chris said, setting his pokeballs into a tray. Erica raised an eyebrow at him.

"You seem more energetic than earlier. Feeling good?" asked Erica as she took the tray behind the counter.

"Yeah, yeah I am." smiled Chris, "I'm ready. I'll probably be coming back for the next couple days, to keep everyone healthy as I make progress and figure out the path."

Once again, Chris found himself facing down the yawning mouth of the cave. He could feel the sweat beginning to trail down his back as the anxiety came creeping up his steadying breath, Chris released Dara, relying on her relentlessly positive disposition for support, and stepped into the gloom of Mt. Moon.

Immediately, Chris acknowledged the perceptible temperature drop. Crossing the shadowy threshold came with it a decrease of several degrees, causing him to shiver before his body adjusted. Dara seemed unphased. Chris briefly worried at what the temperature would do deeper in.

His claustrophobia was almost immediately alleviated, however. The meager light from the entrance was enough to illuminate just the ground in front of it, but the cave had been strung with diffused red lighting. It was enough to grant visibility to the huge cavern. It was so immense that Chris decided it was more like being in a cathedral than a cave, and his fears evaporated, suddenly feeling very silly.

As he looked about, deciding between exploring the large first area or investigating the tunnels to his right, Chris made the decision that keeping track of where he was going, even roughly, would be helpful. He pulled a pencil and notepad he'd been using for checklists out of his bag and started making a simplistic map.

Chris spent several minutes walking around the massive opening chamber, sketching as he went, Dara close to his side, getting used to the feeling of being inside the cave. As he walked about, he happened to find a couple of things. First, a potion that seemed to have been dropped, in the corner of the main cavern, and second a TM disc that felt equally lost. Chris examined the spine.

"TM12, Water Gun," mumbled the trainer, "huh, too bad I need the next Gym Badge."

Content with his first little foray, and knowing he had walked in late in the afternoon, Chris made for the exit again. He found navigating back to be no issue with the omnipresent lighting.

Just as he rounded a corner and the entrance came into view, a screech from above caught his attention. Dara chirped and joined Chris in his upward gaze. Both watched as a small purple creature dropped down on them from above. Chris dived aside to avoid it, not recognizing the threat.

"Dara, Pound it!" Chris cried. Dara leaped into action, smacking the small, winged creature out of the sky. It thudded into the stone with little fanfare, squeaking pathetically. Chris regained his footing and stood beside Dara as they both stared down at the creature. Chris pulled out a pokeball.

"No reason not to make a new friend" He softly tossed the ball forward, catching the little winged creature without much effort. His Trainer License chimed, and the Pokedex started feeding him information. "A zubat… hm… I'll name you… Bazza. Feels right." Not a moment after he confirmed the name, his License sprouted a scanning laser. Chris was shocked and stretched his arm away from himself. Conveniently, he pointed it directly at Bazza's new ball. The lazer quickly scanned the pokeball then started digitizing the sphere, exactly how Chris had seen the computer do for Excellion's ball.

Chris immediately realized this must be an automated feature to ensure that a party was limited to six pokemon. He wondered why it had not triggered for Excellion, but quickly decided it must have simply been that he was given the pokeball, rather than having caught the pokemon himself. He was standing still long enough that someone came walking by.

"Hey!" called out a young man, hustling over with a net slung over his shoulder, "Suspicious men have been seen in the cave. How about you? Are you suspicious?" Before he even gave Chris the chance to answer, he threw out a pokeball. Chris sighed as the weedle appeared, sending Dara forward for a quick battle. Afterward, as the young man lamented his loss, Chris asked him what he'd seen.

"I saw them! Men in all black with giant, red R's emblazoned on their chests and hats." He described the men, supposedly moving in organized units through the tunnels.

"How do you know they were Team Rocket?" Chris quizzed.

"Because," explained the trainer, "They were serious. I know that sounds silly, but every time someone has tried to pretend to be a part of Team Rocket, they are goofy, and honestly laughable with how over-zealously they act mean. These guys… they were cold, organized, and serious. If they weren't Team Rocket, then they were certainly doing a good job of acting, but… I'm sure they were from Team Rocket."

Chris took it, and exited. He took the short walk back to the Center, the valley falling into orange twilight as the sun sank behind the mountain, and thought about Team Rocket. And, perhaps they were not the goofy villains he had imagined.

The next day Chris continued his exploration. As he went, Chris battled more trainers and got more information on the group at least masquerading as Team Rocket in the lower levels. No one else seemed to have seen them. A couple of trainers just hunting pokemon and a girl that chose a terrible meet up point for her friends. From one of them Chris got the impression of a poacher. Something about the way he said he was looking for 'stronger pokemon' just made Chris uncomfortable.

As he rounded a corner, looking down at his steadily growing map, his eye caught something shining on the ground. Chris had made a habit of picking up the lost items of other trainers, by now, so he thought nothing of stooping down to pick the foil wrapped object. In the insufficient lighting of the cave Chris couldn't make out any real identifying markings, though he decided that it was some kind of candy. He could see, however, a stylized 'R' of gold foil on the wrapping.

A nervousness swelled within Chris. His imagination started to run, as he pictured some kind of devilish factory, line workers in Team Rocket uniforms smiling maliciously as they produced conveyor belts full of these candies designed to corrupt, or even poison, the youth of the region. Closing it in a fist, Chris kept the candy to show it to Erica later, hoping she would be able to identify it.

Continuing on, Chris found that the path holding the candy was a short detour that reconnected with the main path. He decided he had gone far enough, for now, and followed his map back towards the entrance. Just as he was reaching the alley that led to the cave's mouth, he found something he'd missed on his first path.

A smaller cave opened in the rock, sitting at the crease of the wall and floor. Chris could see how he'd missed it walking the other direction, it was well disguised if you weren't able to look directly at it. He checked his watch, thought it would be fine as he was planning on going back to the Pokemon Center, and stepped in to the opening.

Chris was surprised to find the hole opened into a relatively spacious tunnel. He followed it beyond its right hand turn to an exit into a secondary cavern. The room was relatively small, with a small shelf at the back. Chris' attention was taken by a man in dark clothing digging directly across from the entrance. His angry muttering and violent gestures raised Chris' hackles. He decided confronting from a distance was the safe choice. He climbed free of the opening quietly.

"Hey," Chris called out, making the man jump, "what are you doing in here?" The man visibly flinched at Chris' surprisingly loud shout echoing through the enclosed space. Chris himself was surprised by the volume and force he'd been able to summon. The man turned slowly. His face was completely obscured in shadow as his hat blocked all the red light from reaching his features. Highlighted by the rosy glow, however, was the large 'R' on his chest.

"Oh, it's just a kid," the man sighed in gravely tones, "get outta here, kid, I'm busy." His posture relaxed, and he turned to continue digging. Chris was emboldened by the man's dismissive nature.

"I said," threatened Chris, drawing and throwing a pokeball, "what are you doing here?" His question was punctuated by the flash of light and sound of Dara being called out. In the instantaneous burst of light, Chris could see the look of surprise on the Rocket members face.

"So, it's a fight you want, huh?" said the Rocket grunt, "Fine, we, Team Rocket, are pokemon gangsters, but we are still trainers!" He threw a pokeball erupting into a sandshrew. This time, Chris was watching his face and got a moment to see his face more clearly. Chris was surprised at how old the man looked.

His team took some hard hits, Dara in particular took a hard hit, but her ability to Sing came through and allowed Chris to rotate her through with Lesle and Elly. The Rocket grunt didn't stand a chance against Chris' complete team. The grunt dropped to his knees as Chris cornered him with Lesle and Dara, both ready to put the man to sleep should the need arise.

"I blew it!" cried the man, hands raised in surrender, " Darn it all, my associates won't stand for this."

"Then don't tell them," offered Chris, "Instead, tell me, are you really a part of Team Rocket?" The man obstinately turned away.

"Why the hell would I tell you that, huh?" He sneered. Lesle fluttered over his head.

"Maybe because Lesle, here, can paralyze you. I'm not strong enough to carry you out, so I guess I'll have to leave you here if that happens…" Chris said it with confidence, but he had to work to hide his own surprise. He wasn't quite sure where the confidence and aggression had come from. Even Lesle gave him a questioning look. The Rocket grunt wasn't taking any chances, however.

"Hey, hey, there's no need for that," the man relented, "I'm old. I don't need any more difficulty getting around." He adjusted himself into a more comfortable sitting position. "Besides, since you killed my pokemon, I'm gonna need all my faculties to get out of here safely."

"They're not dead," Chris stated, "Me and my team don't kill." The man seemed surprised, then took the time to return each of his three pokemon.

"Well, I'll be damned. Didn't think any trainers had any mercy anymore." He relaxed more, heaving a sigh as he settled against the wall. "You probably were never gonna let, Lesle was it? You weren't gonna let Lesle harm me. But, that's fine by me. Yeah, we are Team Rocket. I don't think that's really a problem, we haven't been spreading it around, but we definitely haven't been hiding it."

"Okay," Chris said, "and what are you doing here in Mt. Moon?"

"Ah, c'mon kid, I'm sure you've heard." The man shifted and pulled something from his back pocket. "We've been looking for fossils. Here, we have a license." The man held out a piece of paper. Suspicious, Chris took the paper from the man and unfolded it. The light was too dim for him to read clearly, but he could clearly see the reflective symbol representing the Pokemon League's authority. Incredulous, Chris handed the license back.

"Wait… if you're here legally, then why are there all the rumors about fossil thieves going wild?" The man shrugged.

"We'd heard the same. I imagine they got worse when we moved in to start working, though. Everyone gets nervous at this old uniform. I'll warn ya, though, some of my teammates deeper in the cave are real jumpy cause of it." He shifted again, looking away from Chris. "Some of them are new upstarts that only know the rumors, and some of them are too slow to give up the old ways… Be careful, is what I'm saying." Even in the gloom, Chris could see the man's eyes looking up at him earnestly.

Chris was shaken, a bit. This wasn't what he'd been led to believe. This man wasn't a ruthless criminal, robbing people and murdering pokemon. He was just a man. A remarkably regular man. Chris found himself at ease talking to him, despite the warning of danger he represented.

"What brought Team Rocket back?" asked Chris. The man shrugged.

"Don't know, I'm too far down the ladder. I just know an admin from the old days contacted me, asked if I was interested in coming back for a short stint. Pulled myself out of retirement for this." The man looked over his shoulder. "I can tell you, though, the organization has changed. Things are different, our goals seem to be different. I was pleasantly surprised when my squad leader started handing out licenses. Some of the others weren't as thrilled as I was." He locked eyes with Chris seriously, again. "They're the ones you gotta watch out for. Team Rocket isn't as unified as it once was."

Chris was beginning to feel awkward, quizzing this older man, so he gave a serious nod and turned to leave.

"Hey." The man called, turning Chris on his heel. The man tossed him a square plastic case. "That's an HP Up, boosts your pokemon's fortitude. You might find some use for it, especially with those renegades out there." Chris was left even more confused.

After leaving the cave, Chris returned Lesle to her ball and took to holding Dara. He found himself idly stroking her fur, eliciting a pleasant hum, while he thought about the Rocket grunt he'd defeated. He was unprepared for the level of civility he received. It conflicted with every tale he'd been told, every rumor he'd heard. Even more confusing, he'd been genuinely helpful, giving Chris helpful advice and even a Technical Machine. Sure, he couldn't use it yet, but he had it. Even more questions rested in the idea that the organization wasn't as two dimensional as he'd imagined, but was actually evolving, splintering within, perhaps.

As he thought, Chris hiked up to the entrance. He could see the exit, but was stopped short when Dara cried out in his arms. Panicking, Chris held her at arms length to inspect her. To his horror, a zubat had latched on to her. In a panic, he attempted to swat at the creature to chase it away. It detached itself, but fluttered close by and swooped in for another attack. It pulled up short, and Chris was overcome with a sense of intense vertigo as a high-pitched ringing filled his ears. Stumbling, losing his balance, Chris heard the sound of a pokeball opening.

A familiar cry echoed in the cave, and the sounds of battle rang out. By time Chris recovered, the fighting had ended. Regaining his senses, Chris sat up. Before him, Dara was curled into a tight ball, covering her face. Prancing about her, sniffing with concern and occasionally growling at the surroundings, was Gustavo.

Amazed, Chris called out to Gustavo. His ears perked up, and he cried happily, but he did not leave Dara's side. Finding enough balance to stand, Chris walked over to Gustavo and scratched him behind the ears.

"Good job, boy," he said, picking up Dara carefully, "Let's get out of here." And with that, Chris walked out of the mountain, Dara in his arms, and Gustavo being an attentive escort.


	12. Chapter 10

After a good night's sleep, Chris left his bunk and went to the desk. Erica was serving some customers, so he settled into one of the plush lobby chairs to wait. Several men, dirty from their hike, walked in, and Chris realized he was in for more time than he had bargained for. He released his team and let everyone stretch and interact.

Bartles was as bubbly as usual, bouncing around between each of the other pokemon. Chris was happy to see that everyone was happy and treated Bartles with respect even as he almost overbearingly hopped around and entered each of their spaces. He showed little restraint in physical contact with his teammates, patting Dara, nuzzling into Elly, even trying to lift Mickey from his comfortably prone position. For his part, Mickey growled, but seemed to consent and stood, much to Bartles delight. Bartles then started organizing a game of tag that Gustavo and Mickey got competitively interested in. As the intensity increased, Elly, Lesle, and Dara took to the sidelines, but Chris had to step in before damage was done to the Center.

Having calmed down, everyone paired off. Mickey and Elly engaged in their favorite activity of casually napping beside each other, Bartles and Lesle experimented with Lesle acting as Bartles' wings so he could fly, to limited success, and Dara and Gustavo seemed to be enjoying each others' company and play wrestling, though gently.

It was a bit more before the flow of patrons finally slowed to a stop and Chris had the chance to approach Eric Joy.

"Good morning, Chris," greeted the older woman, "How are you, today?" The nurse settled herself into a chair behind the counter with a sigh. To Chris, she looked tired, but the shallow smile belied the content she felt in her job.

"I'm okay, Ms. Erica," replied Chris, "you seem to be busy." Erica chuckled.

"A bit, certainly more than usual. It seems that some people are choosing to take a vacation from Cerulean." Her eyes flicked to the silent, but active, television in the corner of the room. Chris looked, seeing a newscast on a string of robberies perpetrated by an apparent Team Rocket member.

"About that…" started Chris, " I ran into one of them, a member of Team Rocket, in the Mt. Moon tunnels." Erica sat up at that, listening intently and leaning forward to encourage Chris to continue. "In one of the smaller tunnels, I found a man digging. I asked what he was doing, who he was, we battled, I won, and then he happily told me what he knew. He even gave me something."

"That doesn't sound like Team Rocket." Noted Erica. Chris shrugged.

"He'd agree with you, I think. He said that things were different in the organization. He had a license for fossil mining and collection. He warned me that not everyone was on the up and up." Chris himself suddenly felt very tired. He felt like he was losing his childhood, having any sense of whimsy pulled away by reality. Even so, the fire of curiosity and adventure burned within him. He now had a mystery to solve.

"Chris," Erica warned, standing and moving closer, "I'm worried about you. You've got that aggressive spark of some great trainers, I've seen. But, that was in the days before the new laws. When that kind of reckless bravado could allow you to pull off some amazing feats. Now, though, it just gets good pokemon killed. You can't just go charging in, riding momentum to victory with belief in your pokemon. Back in the day, even Team Rocket wouldn't murder pokemon. Even the criminal organization members were resistant to do that."

Chris' pokemon had all stopped playing and were paying attention. Chris himself was enraptured, eyes wide. Erica continued.

"It shouldn't have come to this. I remember when the first battle kill happened. The massive court case, the year long legal battle. The subsequent incidents as the courts drug it out. And, finally, when that Gym Leader stood with the defendant… The tide of public opinion shifted so quickly." She took a moment to compose herself, shaking her head to dispel the memories. "Be smarter than that, Chris. Don't lose your friends foolishly. It will only break your spirit."

Erica got quiet, fuming at the end of her speech. Chris let her sit in silence for several minutes. As he waited, he started to systematically return his pokemon. Each stared at him in kind right before he pulled them back into their pokeballs.

"I know." finally, Chris said. "I've been thinking about that since Professor Oak asked me to not kill pokemon on my journey. At first I thought it was just because he thought I was fragile, couldn't handle it. But, the more I've fought, the more I've seen, the more I realize he saw in me something that said 'This kid can do it.' At least, I think so. I need to think so. I want to think so!" Chris was raising his voice, and his pokemon began to gather around him. "I don't want to lose anyone. I want to be an example that death is not the best way. I want to prove to the world that it is unnecessary and wrong. I want to win, to become Champion, and I want to do it standing on the moral high ground."

It was quiet for a long moment, until Bartles started furiously clapping, breaking the tension. Erica burst out laughing, and Chris suddenly felt very foolish, but all of his pokemon were looking up at him. Whether seriously or happily, their eyes tracked him, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Chris," said Erica as she composed herself, "how old are you?"

"Fifteen." He replied. Erica looked genuinely shocked for a moment, then looked the boy up and down again.

"You sure? Between that speech and your demeanor, you sound like an old dreamer, but you also look so young!" She giggled again, but bit it back again quickly. "Jokes aside, I believe in you. Never said I didn't for the record, just wanted to remind you of the potential consequences. It's too easy to hit a hot streak and forget what defeat feels like. As soon as you forget, it comes around to smack you in the behind, sure as dawn."

"I guess the difference is that I can't forget," Chris said sadly, leaning down to pet Elly, "I can't afford to lose even once. So it will always loom over me." His pokemon gathered closely around him, and Erica looked down on the scene, feeling as though she was witnessing a genesis of some sort. This boy, surrounded by pokemon looking up at him adoringly. After a time petting each of his pokemon in turn, Chris started returning them all to their pokeballs.

"You're right, regardless, I need to be sure I'm never reckless, not even when it would be easy to do so. I'm going to head back down the mountain and pick up some more potions and gear in Pewter City. I should be back tomorrow."

Chris spent the rest of the day working his way down the valley. He released Elly and Gustavo to allow them to really stretch their limbs and build up some real speed. They seemed to enjoy the time to exert themselves. Elly started doing many intense swoops and dives that caught Chris off guard the first couple times, but he quickly began to trust Elly's instinct and watched with a smile as she soared along the cliff sides. Gustavo zoomed from grassy patch to grass patch, up and down the hillsides, startling the trainers they passed, and occasionally Chris himself.

Pewter City appeared from the stone as if it was sprouting. It was the middle of the afternoon, so Chris decided to head straight to the Poke Mart to ensure he could get what he needed. A couple extra antidotes, and a few more potions, and Chris felt more prepared to push the rest of the way through Mt. Moon on to Cerulean City. When he stepped out of the Mart the sun was beginning it's descent towards the forest in the west.

When he arrived at the Pokemon Center, Chris was surprised to find a crowd around the front desk. He could even see Pam from the door. A low clamor of dissent emanated from the crowd, making it clear to Chris that something was going wrong in the Center to cause the back up. Despite its slow progression, Chris could see that disgruntled patrons were moving away from the counter in an orderly manner, implying they were being serviced, albeit slowly.

Chris settled in to wait at the back of the line, inching forward with the minutes. As he got closer, he could see the nurse bobbing back and forth. Chris thought he could see a bob of dark hair moving back and forth, and he wondered if Pam had forgotten her wig, and maybe that had something to do with the delay. As the line thinned further, though, Chris could see that it was not Pam at all.

"Welcome to our Pokemon Center," greeted the baritone voice, "So sorry for the delay. May I take your pokemon." Chris blinked incredulously.

"Brock?" Chris asked in greeting to the Gym Leader, currently bowing behind the counter, a frilled pink apron over top of his more rugged attire.

"Oh, hey, you were that challenger from a couple weeks ago… Charles? No, wait, Chris, right?" Brock offered. Chris nodded.

"Where is Pam?" he asked.

"She said she had to take a couple vacation days," Brock shrugged, "called in a favor and I said I'd cover for her. I can put Gym challenges on hold for now." Chris smiled at hearing that.

"Did she go south to Vermillion City, by any chance?" Chris probed further. Brock nodded.

"Yeah, actually, how'd you know?" he answered.

"It was something we talked about before I headed up the mountain." Chris looked behind him, seeing the line was growing again. "But, I'm holding up your work. We can talk after the rush ends."

The traffic stayed heavy for a while more, then slowed steadily to nothing, and Brock stepped around from the counter to sit with Chris for a time. They talked for several hours, getting to know each other a bit better. Brock was surprised to see Dara, captured by Chris, and Chris quizzed the gym leader on all he knew about Mt. Moon. The night grew late quickly, and Chris went to bed, promising yet another visit to a friend he had to leave behind.

Early the next morning Chris hiked back up to the entrance to Mt. Moon. Despite being uphill the whole way, Chris made good time and arrived at Erica's Center an hour before noon. He had an early lunch with his team and set out immediately for the tunnels, determined to make some progress this day.

The familiar paths went quickly, a side effect of Chris not exploring every corner, and he soon reached as far as his map had gone. A quick battle with a lost trainer, and subsequently giving her directions to the exit, and Chris was beginning to steadily add to his map again. He had only sketched a single tunnel corridor and turned a corner when he found another small tunnel going deeper.

Jotting a small stair symbol, Chris headed in with a fresh page to record the passage. The connection itself was low, wide, and short with an exit breaking through the ceiling a short ways away. Poking his head up like a diglett, Chris scanned the room.

The ceiling stretched into darkness as the room was only lit by a single lantern set beside a man lounging against the wall, taking a break from the apparent digging he'd been doing. The black clothes disappeared into the shadows, but the bright red symbol readily identified him as a member of Team Rocket. The man glared as Chris continued to climb out of the hole.

"Hey," warned the man, "We're pulling a big job here, kid. Get lost." Pushing himself to his feet the Rocket member tossed a pokeball forward, and in a flash of light a zubat appeared. Chris summoned Elly to combat the flying pokemon.

The small bat wasn't able to do much damage as Elly proved her superior mobility. Its little bites had no penetrating power and Elly's powerful wings were buffeting the smaller creature about. Grimacing, the Rocket grunt called out in desperation.

"Use Supersonic, Zubes!" He cried. The little bat inhaled deeply before opening its mouth wide. At first, Chris was confused, as he heard nothing, but then the ringing slowly increased, and his vision began to swim. Vertigo hit him just as he saw Elly dip before beating her wings hard and regaining altitude.

"Quick Attack, Elly! Take it out!" Chris called, clutching his ears. Elly reeled back and surged forward, but Chris could see immediately she was aiming high. The zubat easily dipped out of the way as Elly slammed herself into the wall of the cave, doing far more damage than the other pokemon had. Shaking her head, she turned about, wavering in the air and hunting for the zubat. "Just use Gust," Chris ordered, "We can't use precision here."

Elly closed her eyes and started flapping hard. The wind surged around the room, tearing at the two trainers' clothes and throwing the zubat into the wall with enough force to evidently knock it out as it began drifting to the floor, only fleetingly flapping its wings. The Rocket grunt recalled the zubat and almost immediately threw out a second ball.

"Get out there, Eks!" And, with a pop, an ekans coiled itself on the ground. Chris could see that Elly was still dazed from Supersonic, so he quickly recalled her and sent in Mickey to deal with the snake pokemon. Mickey appeared, gave a very feline stretch, and a cute and not entirely threatening growl.

The fight was over quickly, though, as Mickey handily outclassed the ekans. His final Horn Attack was pressed with so much force he drove the serpentine pokemon back and into its trainer, smacking them both into the wall. The man hit his head against the rocks and slumped into the floor, his ekans equally limp in his lap.

Chris rushed forward, but relaxed when he found the man and his pokemon breathing. Using the Rocket grunts' pokeball, Chris returned the ekans and set about examining the room. Curious, he investigated a lone ledge in the cave, finding a dusty TM case with a faded label, barely legible in reading TM01 Mega Punch.

From his elevated vantage, Chris could see that a rather large rock below him had clear drag marks underneath it. Climbing down and investigating, Chris found that someone had, at some point, slid the rock over top of a small hole to hide an item. Chris pocketed the can labeled Ether, and headed out of the cave. Taking one last look at the unconscious man, Chris exited the cave.

Chris continued on in the greater tunnel. A young man who kept showboating for no one and a burly hiker confronted him as he progressed. During the fight, the older man called out an onix. The massive pokemon didn't stand a chance against Bartles, but its immense size disturbed the natural rock formations. A section of wall fell away while they battled, and Chris clearly caught sight of something glinting over the hiker's shoulder in the red glow of the cave lights.

"Kids like you shouldn't be here…" The hiker muttered bitterly as he retreated, and Chris investigated the damage in the cave wall. Digging through the rubble to climb the wall a bit and get to the gleaming point of light. Reaching it, Chris pulled a glossy stone from the wall. It was smoothly textured and cool to the touch. Uncertain, he checked his Trainer's License that kept active track of his inventory. At the bottom of the list was a single new entry; Moon Stone.

Its description read: A stone used for making certain kinds of pokemon evolve.

Great, Chris thought, but which kinds of pokemon?

Wasting no more time, and with his team in good shape, Chris headed down the nearby tunnel, the only way to continue forward. He followed the passage, the longest and most well dug yet, until it reached an opening at the other end. The opening was set in the ceiling, a ladder the only access. The opening was dark compared to even red glow inside the smaller tunnel, but Chris started climbing.

The other side of the hole opened into a full cavern, almost as large as the one he'd left, and Chris took in his surroundings as he pulled himself free.

"Well, well, well," a voice interrupted his observations, "what do we have here? Little kids should leave grown ups alone." A man, wearing the now familiar Rocket uniform, stepped from the shadows. He dropped a pokeball at his feet, it exploded into the shape of a large, furry pokemon with huge teeth. Chris recognized it as a raticate, an evolved rattata. He set his feet into a stance and pulled a pokeball from his wrist.


	13. Chapter 11

Chris could immediately tell that something was distinctly different, here. This Team Rocket member was young, strong, and mean looking. Chris wasn't one to place stereotypes on people, it was nothing to do with his features or facial hair, but the look in his eyes. Chris could feel the loosely bridled aggression hidden behind those eyes, mirrored by the agitated chittering of his pokemon. This man wanted to hurt him.

Chris called out Lesle first, hoping the fluttering bug pokemon would be able to maybe paralyze the raticate. She appeared with a happy cry and stretch of her wings, then, taking in her surroundings and situation, calmly started a protective halo pattern around Chris.

"A bug, you gotta be kidding me," sneered the grunt, "Tear it apart, Chuck!" The large rat pokemon lunged, bounding forward before leaping at Lesle, still above Chris.

"Lesle, Confusion!" Chris hurriedly called, hoping Lesle would be able to intercept the raticate. Lesle reared back as Chris ducked, eyes beginning to shine purple before the raticate connected. She flew backwards, a large gash visible across her front. The raticate's fangs now glistened.

Lesle quickly used her wings to stabilize and the glow in her eyes surged as a scattering purple lights flashed about the raticate's head. The pokemon glanced about, puzzled for a moment, before flinching, reeling and reaching for its head as if gripped by a terrible headache.

Too nervous of her wound to allow her to continue, Chris called back Lesle and reached for Mickey's ball. The grunt wasn't going to let Chris switch for free, however.

"He's got a trick, Chuck, get ready to hit whatever he brings out!" The raticate shook its head to regain composure and coiled its hind legs to jump. Chris refused to hesitate, throwing Mickey's ball past the raticate, hoping to slow down its response just a little.

"Mickey, don't just stand there!" Chris pleaded.

"Hyper Fang!" The grunt screamed, and his raticate responded by whipping its tail to spin about and jump at the forming light. Mickey was in motion as soon as his form materialized, spinning on his foreleg and swinging his body out of the path of the charging pokemon. The raticate sailed by, but it dug its claws into the gravel and turned back just as quickly, lunging again.

"Horn Attack, Mickey, center mass!" Chris ordered. Mickey charged in, meeting the bigger pokemon fearlessly. At the last moment, Mickey ducked his head under the open maw of the rat pokemon before throwing his horn up into the creature's chest. The raticate squealed in pain, but didn't pause as it brought its head down to sink its fangs into Mickey's hind end.

Unwilling to let Mickey stay in longer with this powerful, well-trained pokemon, Chris called him back, pulling him directly from the raticate's jaws. He took just a moment to consider his next move, fingering his pokeballs without taking his eyes off his opponents. The raticate was definitely strong, dealing out heavy hits, but Lesle's mental assault combined with Mickey's power had clearly flagged its strength significantly. Its chest was heaving with exertion from the mere moments of conflict.

"Dara," Chris said, uncertainly, "I'm gonna need you here." And he tossed the pokeball forward, allowing Dara out into the cave. She appeared with a pleased trill, seemingly unaware of the raticate, already charging.

"Dodge it, Dara!" Chris commanded. With a lightweight flip, Dara rolled into the air, skipping above the raticate as it skated to a stop beneath, preparing to leap upwards in pursuit. "Now, Pound!"

As the raticate attacked, Dara met it in the middle. As the bigger creature's fangs seemed to fail to find purchase on Dara's smooth, spherical body, she attacked viciously. Her face scrunched into a frown and she began beating the raticate with audible smacks. It landed hard, barely finding its feet as Dara gracefully followed.

The Rocket grunt across the floor snarled angrily, "Quick Attack," he declared, and, with unnatural speed, his pokemon complied. Dara was sent flying with a small grunt as the raticate landed its hit squarely. Her lightweight body floated upward, over the fight, and Chris covered his ears.

"Dara," he said with finality, "Use Sing."

The cavern echoed with the pleasant, soothing melody. Even through the muffling of his palms, Chris could feel the haunting solo trying to rob him of his consciousness. Likewise, the raticate struggled to stay upright, only to fall in a heap, its exhausted body giving in to rest. The Team Rocket grunt had tried to mirror Chris' posture, but was exposed to the song before he could cover his ears, and it slowly robbed him of his consciousness.

With the last glimmer in his eyes, he glared at Chris, uttering quietly, "I'm gonna…" before succumbing to the effects of Dara's song.

Chris stood over the fallen man, feeling relief at the fortunate turn out. He returned the man's pokemon for him, and stood there a moment considering his options. As he stood idle a strange sensation overtook him. Wind against his skin. Chris looked down the tunnel the way he'd been headed, feeling another wisp of air brush past his cheek. Reasoning that the tunnel was nearly at its end, Chris turned back for the final time, he felt. He looked over the fallen grunt once more, ensured his relative safety, and headed out of the cave.

Erica smiled warmly as Chris walked through the doors. She quickly assessed his team's wounds and deemed them not too serious. Regardless, she took them back for some basic first aid and left Chris pondering the encounter.

He felt there was a certain truth to what the old Rocket grunt had said. The organization wasn't cohesive, not everyone was on the same page. His sample size was only three, so far, but he couldn't help but notice the glaring differences in their demeanor. The first man was calm, even in the face of defeat, while the second was hostile, but measured, and the last battle was simply brutal. Chris felt the first two had some manner of restraint, but that last man was aiming to kill, at least his pokemon if not Chris himself.

Before Chris could draw any conclusions, Erika returned with his pokemon. He gratefully accepted them back, and set about making dinner for everyone. Erika took notice.

"Planning to turn in early?" She asked, stepping out from behind the counter. "It's not that late, yet. You're either slowing down, or are about to push through the mountain. And, I can guess which." A wry smile overtook her weathered features. Chris smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, not too much more and I'll be on the other side into Route 4, on my way to Cerulean." Chris said calmly, preparing himself for more goodbyes. But, before he could begin, Erika slapped the table and started walking away.

"Good! You're too good to get stuck around here. Keep on moving forward, keep growing, make more friends, catch more pokemon, earn more badges. And come back to see me when little Elly is big enough to carry you." Before she returned behind the counter to serve a customer coming through the door, Erika turned to face Chris. A big grin stretched her cheeks. He wondered about it, but decided that was a pretty pleasant goodbye.

Erika could feel, for the first time in many years, the gentle joy at sending a trainer on. This wasn't a murderer being sent out to sow havoc and death in the world. This was a true Pokemon Trainer, focused on bringing out the best in his team and growing as strong as he could. And, he even had some loftier ideals that may even carry him the distance. Erika could see in this young man what she hadn't since the new laws had taken effect. And, it gave her hope. She was not sad to see him continue on.

Chris settled into a pleasant night's sleep, dreaming of wild pokemon and unseen worlds.

The next day dawned cold, but the weather mattered little once inside the shelter of the cave. Chris progressed steadily to where he fought the Team Rocket member with the raticate and found the chamber empty. No unconscious bodies, no hidden attackers. The air still flowed gently and sporadically.

Chris refused to let his guard down and progressed with caution. No one was idling about this deep in the cave. This far down, they either finished the voyage, or returned to the entrance. Regardless, with the Team Rocket presence so far, Chris refused to be caught off guard.

Just as he feared, when Chris rounded a corner he could clearly see a hunched form in dark clothing. Staying quiet, he crept closer. The man was certainly a Rocket grunt, the insignia glowing in the cave light, but he wasn't watching Chris. Instead, his attention was diverted away and up a slope. Chris could see a spot of brighter light and movement at the top of a small climb.

Chris took the opportunity to get the jump on the man, sneaking up to within several feet before making his presence known. He couldn't resist being a bit impish.

"What are we looking at?" Chris whispered. Toh is surprise, the man didn't jump.

"There's a man up there, he's been excavating the cavern for a bit, and I think he recently…" The voice was surprisingly young and smooth, though he trailed off at the end, and suddenly turned, finally jumping and crying out at Chris' proximity.

Without another word, the young Rocket grunt threw out a pokeball that erupted into a zubat. The battle went quickly, Chris got the feeling this guy wasn't much more experienced than he was. Even more so, he didn't seem to have much access to pokemon, only using a zubat and rattata.

"So, what were you doing here?" Chris asked, standing over the defeated grunt. Making him look up, Chris could see that he wasn't much older, maybe sixteen, though the lighting did make it difficult to discern detail. The young man tsked and averted his eyes.

"The dude up there probably found some fossils. Team Rocket will revive the fossils and sell the pokemon!" He stood up then and jabbed an accusing finger at Chris. "You. You've made me angry. I'll see you again. I'm the son of an Admin. Team Rocket will blacklist you!" And with that strange, vague threat, the young man ran off back down the tunnel. Chris wondered after him, but decided it was an empty threat and started climbing the incline.

From the bottom, Chris could tell the cavern opened above the step, but as he climbed he realized it opened then climbed yet again to a secondary step. On top of that, Chris could see a set of bright excavation lights illuminating a hunched man carefully sweeping at an indent in the rock. Looking about, Chris realized he had a full excavation site built here. There was a tent to one side, several foldable tables set up with several boxes and buckets of what seemed to be dirt. The nearest tables, however, had two large rocks.

Curiosity drew Chris towards them. The one on the left was almost perfectly smooth on top except for two semi-circular indents on one side. Chris felt it looked reminiscent of the top of a skull, though certainly too large. The other had a similarly bony experience, but it was of a spiral shape, rough and ridged all the way around.

"Hey, stop!" A sudden, forceful shout made Chris jump. He turned to see the once hunched man approaching. "I found those fossils! They're both mine!" He stomped over angrily, jabbing an accusing finger into Chris' chest. Chris immediately backed away, hands up in surrender. The man was filthy, stained white shirt, what once were nice black slacks, unkempt, overgrown hair, and oversized, extra thick glasses. Chris felt like he was looking at a hyper stereotype of a super nerd.

"Woah, I'm sorry, I was just passing through. Just curious about your rocks. Fossils." He clarified, staying defensive in the face of this rather intense, and dirty, man. The man, to his credit, gave Chris a once over and relaxed quickly.

"Sorry," he explained, "Been having a lot of people just walking up and asking for my fossils. Or trying to take them, wearing dark outfits and sneaking about…" He shook his head in disapproval. "Sorry, again, my name's Miguel." Miguel extended his hand.

Chris introduced himself and took another look around the excavation sight. It looked as though Miguel had been digging for quite some time. Random holes scattered the area, adjacent directly to piles of deposited rubble.

"Been digging for a while, Miguel?" Chris asked.

"Uh, yeah," Miguel laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "what's the date?" Chris filled him in, to which Miguel only laughed harder. "Well, in that case, I've been in here for about three weeks. You lose track of time when you don't have the sun. I've just been working till I'm tired." Miguel looked about curiously, admiring his work, before his eyes finally fell on the two fossils on his table.

"Hey," He said slowly, "I think it's about time I get outta here, at least for now, gotta report back to the museum. Do you want one of these fossils?" He grinned at Chris' incredulity and suspicion. "Not for nothing. I'll trade you for a battle. Haven't had a good one in a while. How about it?"

Chris wasn't certain if he'd even want one of the fossils, but he realized that he had been challenged to a battle and couldn't rightly refuse even if he wanted to. With a resigned sigh he called out Mickey.

"All right, let's get going, Flubs!" Miguel excitedly tossed his pokeball forward, and the light formed with an ill fitting plop that made Chris cringe. In the light's place, a purplish pokemon took shape, though what shape that was was uncertain to Chris, it seemed to be constantly moving, undulating.

"Be careful, Mickey, this thing looks… slippery." Chris said. Mickey simply spread his feet into the gravel and set his stance, a low rumbling growl emanating. "Let's get started. Horn Attack!" Mickey lowered his head and charged.

Miguel calmly waited, his pokemon gently swaying. Just as Mickey closed in, he pointed out firmly.

"Disable!" His pokemon finally moved, as Mickey connected, it seemed to bounce away, reverberating from blow, only to rebound back at Mickey. Chris instinctively felt the threat. Mickey was already moving as Chris opened his mouth.

"Mickey, retreat!" Chris shouted. Mickey sprang back just as Miguel's pokemon crashed forward like a wave. It collapsed into a puddle then reconfigured itself back into the shape of a rough mound with a face that it seemed to prefer. Chris wasn't sure what Disable would do, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out.

"It's too fast," Miguel called, "Just Pound it!"

"Don't give it the chance, Mickey, Horn Attack!" Mickey charged forward. The sludgy pokemon rose up, but that only made the target larger. Mickey hit with enough force to drive himself straight through the body of the other pokemon. Chris was appalled, terrified at what he saw, but slowly the shape congealed back into the form it had before. With a grunt, Miguel returned his pokemon, but nodded at the ball, satisfied.

"Not bad, Flubber, but let Round Boi take it from here." Miguel tossed a ball forward, and, in a flash of light, what seemed to be another pokeball appeared. Chris watched as it seemed to rotate in place, eventually revealing a set of eyes, though the line dividing almost seemed like a mouth.

"Second verse, same as the first, Horn Attack, Mickey!" Mickey pawed at the ground in preparation before starting a small arc to gain momentum.

"I don't think you're gonna be able to handle him, but we can set him up. Use Screech!" Miguel ordered. As Mickey charged in, the pokeball pokemon seemed to begin vibrating in place. Chris couldn't see anything else happening, but he felt as if his ears were beginning to itch. Mickey smacked the pokemon and it rolled away.

After the hit, Mickey was left in place. As the ringing in his ears faded, Chris could see a shudder run through Mickey and his muscles went slightly slack. Chris didn't have to wonder long at the effects.

"He's less prepared to take a hit now, do it again, Round Boi!" Miguel commanded again. The pokemon righted itself, eyes facing towards Mickey, and started vibrating once again as the ringing returned to Chris' ears. Mickey shuddered again, but stayed on his feet, so Chris ordered him into action.

"One last Horn Attack, Mickey, finish it!" Mickey lowered his head and fearlessly charged forward once more. The round pokemon kept vibrating in place, only stopping just before Mickey closed in for the hit. Chris called out one last reminder. "Restraint, Mickey!"

As Mickey met the pokemon, instead of driving his horn in, he lowered his head further and got underneath it. With a heave, Mickey sent the pokemon flying. It landed hard near Miguel who quickly nealed to check on the pokemon. Nodding with approval, he returned it. He reached for another pokeball. Chris also reached for his pokeballs, but decided to keep Mickey out just in case.

"Alright, one more," Miguel said, "We've got one chance, Shortstack, let's go!" And his pokeball erupted into another spherical pokemon, but this one hovered above the ground. Its body was a rich purple, with some sort of pattern below a goofy, aloof smile. Vents on its body periodically produced puffs of smoke. Chris pulled Gustavo's ball.

"Alright buddy, beat him with speed." Chris said as Gustavo took shape at his feet, growling with anticipation. "Head straight in, Quick Attack!" Gustavo started zig-zagging and moved in with almost invisible quickness. Miguel waited until Gustavo had covered more than half the distance before giving his order.

"We got one chance, Shortstack, Smog!" Miguel's pokemon seemed to inhale and swell, then heaved out a cloud of dark smoke. At the same moment, Gustavo hit it, causing the surge of smog to peak. The impact sent Miguel's pokemon spiralling backwards, but Gustavo stopped in his tracks and started coughing aggressively. Chris' Trainer's License chimed.

Chris was surprised to see two notifications had popped up, but the most recent caught his attention first. It read, 'Oh no! Your pokemon has been poisoned! Treat it quickly!'Chris looked at Gustavo again and saw him heaving air, coughing occasionally, but still standing strong.

"Let's finish this, Gustavo," Chris said, "No point clearing the poison just to get hit again. Quick Attack!" Gustavo growled and charged in. He made contact before Shortstack could compose himself, and the balloon pokemon wafted to the ground, deflated in defeat. Miguel returned his pokemon and approached Chris. Chris had already knelt down with Gustavo, administering an antidote.

"Congratulations," he said, "On the victory and your pokemon's evolution." Chris looked up at him curiously, then back down at Gustavo, who, while was having an easier time breathing, was not any different. A cursory look around revealed the truth, though.

Mickey, who had been resting behind Chris, had noticeably grown. He had doubled in size, his horn had grown noticeably, and those already massive ears had only expanded further. Gustavo was stable, so Chris took the opportunity to check on Mickey in the Pokedex. As Chris learned about his new Nidorino, Miguel kept talking.

"So, I'm figuring you don't have a fossil hunters license, right?" Chris confirmed. "Right, I figured, hence I offered you one for our fight. That probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense on the surface, but if I had given you this fossil without this, then there would have been no real record of the exchange, and if anyone ever challenged you on it, you would have no license, and no proof you didn't steal it. Don't want to give you that trouble.

"But, because we battled for it, I can include it in your rewards and now there's an official record of your receiving it from somebody who has a license. Now, that's a lot of set up for me to make a request. I would like you to take one of these fossils, your choice which, and take it to the lab on Cinnabar Island."

Chris was listening, but it wasn't adding up to him. Too much of this felt up to chance and had lots of room for failure.

"Wait, so you've been just waiting here for a trainer to come along that you could battle and offer a fossil to?" Chris asked. Miguel shook his head.

"Nope, thought of it as soon as we started talking." Miguel grinned.

"Okay, but you weren't worried at all that I'd kill your pokemon, leaving you defenseless deep in Mt. Moon? Even if you are confident in your pokemon and your abilities as a trainer, there's always a chance I could get lucky." Chris pressed.

"Well, sure, but first off all my pokemon are trained to take a dive a bit early. I don't like losing pokemon any more than anyone else. To help that, all the pokemon you fought with are capable of taking a hit safely. And, finally, you really think I made it this far into Mt. Moon with nothing more than a pair of Poison-types and an Electric-type? No, I came equipped, and had you turned out to be malicious I would have crushed you with little difficulty." Miguel held out his wrist, showing the full six pokeballs clicked into his License.

"Wait, you're allowed to declare you lost before using all your pokemon?" Chris asked, more curious than skeptical, now. Miguel shrugged.

"Sure, why not? You didn't use all your pokemon, right? I'm not competitive enough to fight to my last pokemon. You didn't use all your pokemon, did you?" Chris realized the truth of that and nodded. Miguel continued. "You'd be surprised how often you may face a trainer who just chooses to not use all their pokemon against you. You have at least six pokemon, you really think all the random trainers you've battled with till now only had two or three? No, they more than likely saw how strong you are and chose to back out before risking any more of their pokemon." Chris, again, saw the sense in that.

"Alright, but why me? Why not just go to Cinnabar Island yourself to this lab?" Chris wondered.

"Simple," Miguel said, "all the fossils I bring out of here are property of the museum by terms of my license. But, if I, say, lose one to a trainer because I accidentally made an offhand comment about him winning one, well I'll receive a slap on the wrist, but there's nothing legally they can do about it. Besides, I'll still be bringing them on. They can't complain that much." Miguel grinned at his ingenuity.

With a sigh, Chris shrugged and nodded.

"Alright, fine, I'll take one of your fossils. I can't promise how long it'll take me to get there, but I'm planning on stopping back in to Pewter every once in a while, so I'll be sure to stop by and check in with you at the museum." Miguel grinned and seemed about to say something more, but then something behind Chris caught his attention and he frowned. As Chris began to turn, he heard the hard thud of impact on rock.

Chris turned to see Mickey using his new form to spear a large rock in the corner of the cavern. It almost seemed to be he was testing out his new capabilities. As Chris watched, Mickey reared back on his hind legs to drive his head forward again, carving a chunk of rock away. Impressed as he was, Chris was distracted by a strange, silvery glow emanating from the new wound in the stone.

"Hey," Miguel mumbled, "Hope you hadn't grown attached to that new form, yet." Confused, Chris watched as Mickey climbed up to grab whatever was glowing in his mouth. Then, the glow started to spread, enveloping and taking over Mickey's form. In the dim cave, Chris could see Mickey's outline start growing, rising up, producing more horns. When it finally began to fade, Mickey was bipedal and armored, and far meaner looking.

Mickey turned, dropping a now dark rock into his new hand and started marching over to Chris and Miguel. Now taller than he was, Chris found Mickey to be far more intimidating, but he very gently handed Chris the rock. Gustavo, seeming to have recovered, started sniffing at his now much larger friend.

"A moon stone, huh?" Miguel said, "Who knew there was one buried in the rock nearby. Must have missed it. Well, it's useless, now, drained dry to give you a mighty Nidoking. Though, he's more docile than others I have met. Either way, congratulations. Now, come pick your fossil."

Chris puzzled over the choice for a long time, finally getting so frustrated with making a decision that he dug into his pack and pulled out a flat package of trail biscuits. Looking at Miguel apologetically, he tossed the packet into the air.

"Label up, I'll take the spirally one, label down I'll take the smooth one." He said as he watched the biscuits flip through the air. When they finally landed, both he and Miguel peered over top to see they had landed.

"Alright," Miguel nodded, "That's the Dome Fossil, and I'll take the Helix Fossil! Great doing business with you, Chris, I hope to see you again, soon!" Miguel started packing his camp and putting away his tools. He carefully packed and packaged the fossils, giving the one he had labeled as the Dome Fossil to Chris. It was heavy, but Chris figured he'd only have to carry it to Cerulean City, so he strapped it to his bag and set out, waving one last goodbye to Miguel.

One more short tunnel, and Chris could see the literal light at the end of the tunnel. Stepping out into fresh sunshine, Chris surveyed the open expanse of rolling hills that led to the city in the distance. Feeling renewed vigor, Chris set off.


	14. Chapter 12

Walking over the foothills, Chris found a couple of lost items, a TM containing Mega Punch, and a loose Great Ball. Chris took a moment to admire its patterning difference to the classic Poke Ball.

The cliffs got suddenly steeper right outside the city, even to the point that the path was blocked by what appeared to be a recent landslide. Considering his choices, Chris slid down the cliff a bit farther from the city gates, landing into a small glade. His descent startled a rattata that rushed out of its nest in challenge. Chris found this one to be rather small, but called out Bartles regardless.

Chris chose Bartles because he was, of his pokemon, the one who'd best demonstrated restraint in battle. No reason to risk the death of a pokemon simply defending its home. Bartles gave a very feline stretch and chirruped his readiness.

"Nice and easy, Bartles, no need to really hurt it." Chris reminded him, and Bartles nodded. The fight was over quickly, and Bartles didn't take a single hit. He danced around the rattata effortlessly, even yawning at it at one point. Chris nodded approvingly as the small pokemon scampered into the tall grass. He turned to Bartles to praise him, but found the turtle had retreated into his shell.

As Chris watched, it appeared that the shell was slowly expanding, like a balloon being inflated. Simultaneously, a light, blue glow was emanating from the openings. Chris watched curiously, then concerned as it persisted. After several minutes, the glow subsided. Chris waited a few seconds longer, anxiety climbing quickly.

Then, the bubble burst as a white, fluffy tail popped from the shell. Followed shortly after by four longer limbs, and a more angular head that sported a pair of ear-like appendages. Bartles, in his new form, turned to Chris and growled in greeting, smiling. It was much taller now, too, only a bit shorter than Chris himself.

A quick check of his License named this new form wartortle. It commented on the uses of the furry tail and ears. For swimming. Apparently. Chris shrugged and continued walking through the grass, leaving Bartles out to allow him to stretch his new limbs.

Just before he cleared the tall grass, a pokemon cried out in fury, blasting from the shrubs to attack Chris. Bartles immediately intercepted, taking the strike on his shell without an issue. As the dust settled, Chris could identify the spearow. Nodding, Chris directed Bartles forward and readied a pokeball.

After the quick exchange, and the subsequent naming of Ali Baba, Chris continued forward onto the path to Cerulean City. As they walked through the city gates, Chris had a moment to reflect that the wild pokemon really posed no threat to him any longer. What was once his greatest source of anxiety was hardly a stumbling block. He had never been able to so tangibly see his growth, before.

As Chris walked into the city proper, he marveled at the unique, light blue sandstone construction the city was named for. The whole city felt soft and gentle, comforting, like a childhood blanket. Chris admired the low building as he made his way toward the, now seemingly out of place, Pokemon Center.

The Center was bigger than any of the others Chris had been in, yet. A second floor staircase sat at his left, and the main hall had multiple smaller hallways leading deeper into the Center to intensive care units and lodging. The entire wall on Chris' right as he entered was an impressive aquarium. What seemed to be hundreds of pokemon filled the water. Chris recognized tentacool and magikarp, but there were many more that he couldn't identify. Some that looked like birds, others that looked like magikarp in different colors, and yet others that looked like they didn't belong in the water at all.

As Chris stood enraptured by the display, a huge shadow drifted across the glass. An absolutely massive pokemon floated by above him, just out of sight. He tried to press himself to the glass to peer upward, but he could only catch a glimpse of a blue fin as it vanished deeper into the tank, lost behind a school of silvery-blue fish pokemon.

Disappointed, he stepped back from the glass, stumbling into someone he hadn't noticed.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" A sharp, feminine voice reprimanded him. Chris jumped back into the glass again, facing the lady he'd hit.

She was short, not much taller than Chris, with a slim build hidden under a light blue tracksuit, though the jacket was open to reveal a one piece bathing suit. Her hair was a bright red cut into a bob. Her eyes stared seriously at Chris, seeming to size him up.

"New trainer in town, huh?" She continued, and Chris nodded. "Gotcha." Suddenly, she snatched Chris' wrist, twisting it forcefully, but not painfully, to expose his pokeballs. "A full team, huh? Wouldn't have pegged you for it. Must be pretty good. Gonna challenge the Gym Leader?"

"I, uh, yeah, I plan to?" Chris stuttered, caught very much off-guard by how forward this lady was. Chris couldn't tell if she was happy or not, the combo of glaring eyes and sly smirk revealed little. Chris tried to back away, and only then did her posture relaxed posture and smile.

"Good to hear! Woulda been worried if a traveling trainer was here for other reasons." With a glare, her eyes swept the lobby before returning to Chris. "I'm sure you've heard that Team Rocket has been making appearances lately. So make sure you're safe out there. And, if you see anything, report it to the police or the gym as soon as you can." And with a nod, she marched out of the Center.

Chris was left shell shocked. After a couple of moments assessing his personal state, Chris made his way to the counter, where the pale-skinned Nurse Joy was smiling pleasantly, as if she had not just watched Chris get interrogated by a stranger.

"Welcome to our Pokemon Center! Shall we heal your pokemon?" She greeted, warmly. Chris smiled, noting that she was slightly more tan than the other Nurse Joy's he had met so far. He started unclipping his pokeballs and laying them into the offered tray.

"Good afternoon, yes, please." Chris slid the tray across the counter, which the Nurse accepted with a polite bow. "My name's Chris. I'll probably be in town for a while." He waited as the Nurse started feeding the tray with his team into the restorative machine. When she didn't respond, he continued. "So, what's your name?"

That was when Chris finally saw her respond, though not favorably. Her back went stiff, hands curling into fists at her sides. With a snap her head whipped at Chris, a fierce glare reddening her cheeks. Her eyes rested on Chris and her expression immediately softened, but her cheeks stayed tight and red. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm sorry, I don't like to give my personal information to customers. You're pokemon will be ready shortly, and I'll have a key for your room, as well. If you could please have a seat and wait." Her tone was even and measured, only slightly straining at the end. Chris wondered what that could possibly mean, but the Nurse Joy had already turned and walked away. Chris could see her lift her hand to wipe an eye just before disappearing behind a corner.

Left with little other option, Chris settled in to wait. After a couple of minutes watching the tank more, Chris turned his attention to his Trainer's License, accessing the Pokedex to peruse the detailed information on each of his pokemon. He was so busy learning that wartortles hold air in their fluffy tails that he was startled when the pokeball tray struck sharply on the counter. He stood and approached, but the Nurse Joy was already retreating.

"Thank you!" Chris called after her, but she did not even turn her head. He found the key to his room sitting next to his pokemon. With a resigned sigh, he collected his belongings and retreated, deciding to relax the rest of the day and try again tomorrow.

Chris spent the night with all of his pokemon released, allowing everyone to stretch and socialize. In the morning, he returned everyone to their pokeballs and set out. The front desk of the Center was busy, and the Nurse Joy didn't even spare Chris a look. Not wanting to bother her even more, Chris quietly slipped out.

He took his time exploring the city, finding the PokeMart easily enough, but also an interesting bicycle shop. As he walked about, Chris noticed a near constant police presence. Every turn he took, every street he walked, had at least one officer patrolling it or standing ready. Chris attributed that to the lack of a Rocket presence that had been so heavily rumored. If they were here, they were all laying low.

Chris noticed that the city was far more developed residentially than any of the others he'd been through, with defined districts and neighborhoods. As he was walking through one of these neighborhoods near the river, in the northwest of the city, he came across a house with its front door wide open. Immediately, Chris felt on edge. He approached cautiously, a pokeball already in hand just in case.

The interior of the home was dark compared to the sunlight of midday. Hesitant to enter, Chris stopped at the threshold, trying to let his eyes adjust. He was just about to call out when a voice reached out to him from the interior first.

"Don't loiter, if you're gonna come in, then come in!" The voice shouted, slightly annoyed. Chris jumped, but calmed himself and more boldly, but still slowly, entered the home.

"Hello? I just saw the door open and was worried." Chris called back as his eyes adjusted. Coalescing from the shadows, Chris could see an older man sitting calmly at a table, a cup in front of him.

"Yup, just getting some airflow a'flowin'. Some good air comes off the river and the mountain." The man thumbed over his shoulder, drawing Chris' attention to the open back door, allowing a steady stream of wind to push through the home. "So, can I help you, kid, or are you just playing at being a vigilante?"

"Sorry, no," Chris explained, "I didn't mean to intrude on your home." The man shrugged.

"Eh, it's fine. Was a time when people came through all the time. I used to be an area aficionado on badges. Now that they've changed all the rules, everyone learns it in school and no one needs to visit this old man." He muttered with a definitive tone of bitter sadness. Chris was prepared to leave, but made the snap decision to stay. He spent the rest of the afternoon watching the man open up and relax as he chatted with him. He also learned with greater detail the strange, pheromonic effect of Gym badges on pokemon.

"You've gotta be kidding me," The old man wheezed, "And then he just gave you a magikarp? Kid, in the modern era, that's free real estate! And, let me guess, the Nurse Joy thought you were an idiot." Chris nodded, and the old man erupted into laughter once again. As he started to calm down, Chris took note of the time, excused himself, and stood to leave. the man composed himself before continuing.

"Hey, thanks for spending the afternoon with me. I really appreciate it. Didn't realize how lonely I was getting. So, I wanna give you something." He stood up and fished into his pocket. "Just found this, this morning. Probably dropped and kicked in just the right way off the bridge by those hoodlums, up there." The man produced a blue foil wrapped candy, one that Chris immediately recognized.

"A candy? Yeah, I guess… wait, I have one just like that." So Chris took out the identical foil candy he'd found in Mt. Moon. He'd forgotten he had it.

"Ha, so you've already got a Rare Candy of your own. Well, have another, can only help." He tossed the candy at Chris, catching it on reflex, he examined the two of them. The one he'd found in Mt. Moon was certainly more battered, but they both seemed to be luminous in the shade of blue they were.

"Well," Chris shrugged, "If I got two, might as well eat one." And he started to unwrap the battered candy.

"Wait, what?" interrupted the old man, "No, they're for your pokemon. It's a mix of things that give your pokemon a physical boost. It boosts your pokemon by a level in the League's rating system. You'll see more actual improvement through training, of course, but if you need immediate results, that's the way to go."

Chris rolled the candies over in his palm a couple times, assessing them. After a bit he shrugged again and stuffed them both back into his bag. He didn't really understand how they worked, but he supposed he didn't need to understand, he needed only to know that they did.

"One more thing, then I'll let you go. The bridge isn't safe right now. Some trainers have turned it into a gauntlet, of sorts. They've been picking off rookie trainers who try to head north. Route 24 has been a training grounds, but these punks are blocking them off." The old man looked pained.

"Are they good?" Chris asked. The old man shook his head.

"Not terribly, they pick off rookies, like I said, but they seem to leave anyone that looks tough enough unmolested. Cowards." He growled, staring at the wall in the direction of the bridge. Chris nodded, thanked him for the warning and the candy, and left.

When he stepped outside, Chris found that the sun had already started to set. He took one look up the stairs that lead to the raised bridge, then turned towards the Center. He had a plan, but he wanted to do some training first.

The Pokemon Center was calm and quiet when he walked in, and a different Nurse Joy, an older woman with soft features, was behind the desk. Chris approached and smiled through the scripted greeting.

"Hi," he returned, "I actually came in earlier today. Just wanted to say hi, since I met another nurse earlier… Hey, how many Nurse Joys are on staff at this Center? I'm from Pallet, so I've only seen smaller Centers up till now." The Nurse Joy smiled warmly.

"That's very kind of you to ask. Not many people can't even tell we are different people, at times. Since the Center is open twenty-four hours a day, we actually have four people at the position of Nurse Joy. We rotate in eight hour shifts, so someone always has a full day off each day, and everyone has sixteen hours between shifts." She smiled warmly throughout the explanation.

"That sounds like a really good system, and very fair to everyone." The Nurse nodded.

"Thank you for thinking so, I devised it myself." She laughed. Chris smiled.

"Do you mind if I ask your name?" He asked hesitantly.

"Not at all," she replied, "My name is Bella."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Ms. Bella, my name is Chris. I was worried that asking that was some kind of… taboo that I didn't know I was breaking. When I met the Nurse Joy on shift earlier she got really upset when I asked for her name. Like I'd deeply offended her…" Chris said slowly, remembering the bizarre incident. earlier that day. Bella did not look surprised, though, she looked sad.

"Oh… I know who you met. That Nurse Joy is… sensitive… about their name. It really isn't my place to say. If you really want to know, apologize, explain you meant nothing by it, and try again." She shook her head, avoiding eye contact with Chris.

"Why is she bothered by her name?" Chris questioned.

"It's not my place to say. It wouldn't be fair. If you want to know, you'll have to ask yourself." Ms. Bella said more firmly, but kindly.

Chris didn't know how possible that would be considering how hostile their last conversation had ended. As he walked back to his room he felt a headache building as he considered both training strategies and social skills. As he laid down for the night, a steady pulse building behind his eyes, Chris decided pokemon battles were easier.


	15. Chapter 13

The next two days of training went smoothly, largely, Chris felt, because in the span of those two days he'd not run into the hostile Nurse. He'd seen Bella again, and also met the other two who rotated shifts. Eva, a blue eye'd nurse who didn't like to talk much, but was friendly, and Julie, a soft spoken, younger nurse that fell in love with Dara the first time they met.

Chris found them all to be friendly enough, but not nearly as much as Megan and Pam had been. He figured it was a natural consequence of being in a larger city that likely sees far more trainers. Bella seemed to enjoy chatting when they ran into each other, but Chris couldn't tell if it was genuine interest or just politeness.

At the end of Chris' second day of training everyone to level 17, he found himself wandering the town, again. The police presence persisted, and Chris found himself starting to feel nervous as their eyes would occasionally linger on him. He was certain he didn't look suspicious, but maybe when a whole city's security force was on edge, everyone looked suspicious.

As an officer auspiciously followed him around a corner, Chris nervously ducked into a shop just to get away for a moment. Chris found himself surrounded by bicycles. Bicycles on the ceiling, bicycles on the walls, bicycles making a maze along the floor. And, at the back of this maze sat a counter dividing a grinning, balding, middle-aged man from a seethingly angry young man currently yelling.

"A million?! You've gotta be kidding me! Literally nobody has that much money!" The young man was saying. The shopkeeper shrugged.

"Supply and demand. I'm the only one that's got the supply, and everyone else has the demand. Besides, I import from Galar, and my bikes are built to last. No planned obsolescence here. If I sold them any cheaper, soon everyone in Kanto would have a bike and I'd be out of business. Gotta make enough off my stock to retire!" He smirked with the confidence of a man who had placed hotels around the Go corner in Monopoly. He knew what he was doing.

The young man huffed and pushed off from the counter and started stomping his way back through the maze of carefully placed bikes. It was only a couple of seconds, but Chris stood there awkwardly the whole time, not intending to walk all the way up to the counter just to not pay a million bucks. Finally, the young man got to the door and looked up at Chris. Shock and recognition crossed his face.

Chris didn't know why, he didn't recognize this man with his pale skin and short blonde hair. But, he nervously looked from Chris and back to the shopkeeper, who was now watching both the boys curiously.

"You're gonna want to run." The stranger suddenly said, and Chris couldn't even begin to form his question before the young man turned and kicked one of the nearest bikes, starting a domino reaction of collapsing bicycles.

"What are you doing?!" The shopkeeper yelled as the stranger grabbed Chris' hand and pulled him out the door. They jogged for a minute away from the bike shop, before the young man finally stopped, panting slightly.

"Sorry about that. I had already decided I was going to do that… didn't want you to take the fall for it, just in case." He slowly caught his breath, and Chris waited patiently. When his breathing finally started leveling out, Chris held out his hand. The other young man looked at it questioningly.

"Hi, I'm Chris." He said, still holding his hand out for a handshake. The young man looked at it, then back at Chris' face. His expression twisted from bemused confusion to sudden realization.

"Oh, yeah, uh," He stuttered, finally grabbing Chris' hand, "I'm Michael. Nice to, uh, meet you, Chris." The strange attitude combined with the opportunity to get a good look at him, and Chris suddenly got the powerful feeling that he knew Michael from somewhere. He couldn't place it, but the feeling was there and consistent.

"I've been in the city for a couple days, now, have we met before?" Chris asked. Micheal blushed and looked away sheepishly.

"Yeah, I think we ran into each other in the Pokemon Center. So, uh, what are you doing in the city?" They started to walk, Michael taking the lead as they moved towards the city center. Chris explained his training, and why he was doing it. Michael knew about the trainers on the bridge, and seemed to be especially angry about them. Chris wondered if maybe he'd lost pokemon to them.

Eventually, they reached the Center, chatting idly as they walked up to the doors. The doors automatically slid open and they each scanned the room. Ms. Bella was working behind the counter, serving a man in a black trenchcoat. There were a couple other trainers lounging here, all well dressed. Chris noticed that he had taken a couple steps in without Michael, so he turned to look at his new friend.

Michael was clenching his fists at his sides, glaring into the back of the trenchcoated man. He started to stiffly march forward. As Chris followed the lounging trainers started to notice, elbowing each other and whispering. A couple openly pointed at Michael and chuckled.

As they approached, Ms. Bella noticed first, her customer service smile dropping suddenly in worry, eyes darting from the man to Michael and back again. The man noticed and turned just as Chris and Michael reached him. He wasn't notable, as far as Chris could tell, neutral brown hair, flat features, a short beard.

Until he smiled. It was unsettling, creepy, taunting. Something about the way the grin wrinkled his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was deep, but breathy, as if he'd been running.

"Well, well, well," he said, "I was hoping I'd see you here, Michelle. It's been a couple days, I was beginning to worry you'd quit! But, that just wouldn't do… you're far too cute in your uniform." He stepped forward, raising his arm as if to throw it around Michael's shoulders. Chris started to step forward, but Michael was faster.

Michael planted a hand firmly into the man's exposed ribs, causing him to stumble back into the counter, startling Ms. Bella. Chris could hear the trainers behind them stand suddenly. He turned to face them, pokeball in hand just in case, but, behind him, Michael put a hand on his shoulder.

The man in the trenchcoat started chuckling as he recovered. Michael bristled, tightening his grip on Chris.

"You're not allowed to be here," Michael said, "The restraining order was-" The man barked a laugh and cut Michael off.

"I'm not allowed to be here when you're working! But, you don't seem to be in uniform. The police can't legally stop a trainer from using the Pokemon Center! So, us meeting here…" He took a step forward, causing Micheal to lean away. "Is purely coincidence little lady. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot… So, what's your name?" Michael shook, but Chris couldn't tell if it was from fear or anger.

"My name is Michael." He growled.

"Oh, come now," The man scoffed, "Michelle is so much prettier! Just like you are, in a dress." He sneered. Michael held firm.

"The restraining order specifically says you are not allowed to be here during my shifts, and…" Michael raised a hand and pointed. Chris followed the arm to a clock on the wall. Eight o' five p.m. "Looks like I'm a little late. Leave."

The man clicked his tongue in a tsk, gave Michael another glare, and stalked around him and Chris in a wide arc. With a wave of his hand, the man commanded the gathered trainers to leave with him. Chris counted five others as they left. The trainers that remained in the lobby seemed as shocked by what happened as Chris was. Chris turned back to Michael, who was seething, face red. He looked at Chris, looked aside ashamed, then grabbed Chris' hand and led him into one of the back doors of the Center.

After a short hallway, they turned into a door that opened into a small locker room. Finally, Michael let go of Chris' hand. He took a deep breath before settling onto a bench and dropping his face into his hands. Chris awkwardly waited, not really knowing what to say, or do.

"Sorry about that," Michael finally said, "You're not really supposed to be back here, but since there's only four of us, you are pretty safe." Michael took another deep breath. There were tears in his eyes when he looked at Chris. "Oh, and sorry, for that first day. I didn't really mean to be so rude. I thought maybe you were put up to it by Roger… I've seen you around since, talked to the other Nurses, I know you were just earnestly asking."

Chris was looking at him confused, until it finally all clicked in place and his jaw dropped.

"You're the Nurse Joy I met on my first day in the city!" Michael nodded. "And, you're a boy!" Michael smiled shyly and nodded. "And… that's about as far as my understanding of what's going on is. I don't know who that guy was, what his problem was, I guess his name is Roger? And, I don't know why he was calling you Michelle." Michael looked shocked.

"Wait, you're not wondering why a boy is a Nurse Joy?" Michael asked earnestly. Chris shrugged.

"Not really, I just figured it was your job. I mean, you don't stumble into being a Nurse Joy, you need to do a lot of work. You wouldn't work here by accident." Chris said matter-of-factly. Michael smiled as more tears welled into his eyes.

"Thank you, Chris, that means a lot to me." He grinned and wiped his eyes. "Now, get out of here, I gotta get changed, I really am late for my shift. Don't wanna keep Bella waiting."

Chris returned to the lobby, which had mostly cleared, emptying as one last person walked out and Chris entered. Bella was still behind the counter, smiling as Chris approached.

"Good evening, Chris," She greeted, "That was all certainly exciting, wasn't it?" Chris nodded and started getting out his pokeballs to be healed.

"Yeah, definitely wasn't what I expected." He sighed, sliding his tray of pokeballs across the counter, "The last couple hours have been nothing but unexpected. I think I'm gonna head to bed. Tell Michael I said good night."

Bella paused in her work, looking at Chris confused, then her face broke into a warm smile. She finished healing his team and brought the tray back over, still wearing the smile.

"Absolutely," She said, "I'll tell him you said so. Good night, Chris."

The following morning, Chris found a note pushed under his door. His name was written on the outside, and inside he found a note from Michael.

It read,

'_Chris, _

_I'm really sorry about yesterday. And, about our first meeting. I owe you a full explanation, I think, so I'll try and find you later today. Watch out for Roger. He's vengeful, and won't forget that you stood by me. He might try and find you first, so be careful._

_Thanks again, Michael_'

Chris smiled as he folded the note and put it in his pocket. He couldn't deny the rising sense of curiosity at the whole situation, but he chose to focus on what he had control over. He finally felt as though his team was strong enough to tackle the bridge gauntlet as he planned. Everyone was level 17, according to his License, and everyone was starting to behave like a coordinated unit. That decided, he headed out.

Julie was behind the desk when Chris entered the lobby. She greeted him warmly, looking hopeful. Chris smiled and pulled Dara's pokeball from his wrist. With a gentle toss, the jigglypuff appeared on the counter and stretched with a growl.

Julie squealed quietly and wrapped Dara in a hug. Dara cried out in surprise, but quickly realized where she was and what was happening. She resigned herself to the affectionate ministrations of the Nurse.

"More training today, Chris?" Julie asked, running her fingers through Dara's fur.

"Nope, time to go over the bridge." Chris said simply. Julie froze in motion, looking at Chris concerned, glancing back at Dara.

"Chris, I heard that the bridge is dangerous, right now. There are a whole group of trainers picking off newbie trainers as they try and get to the northern side of the river." She said, concerned. Chris shrugged.

"It's what I've been training for the last couple days." He held his arms wide. "How do I look?" He asked.

Julie appraised him, idly stroking Dara's fur.

"Like a young man. Why?" She wondered. Chris frowned, thought for a moment, then widened his eyes and pouted his lips. Julie cocked her head to the side. "And, now you look like a shy kid. Huh, didn't realize how young you were, before."

"That's more like it." He nodded, satisfied. "I heard that the people on the bridge only pick off weaker looking trainers, letting strong looking trainers pass by without issue. I don't want them to ignore me, just in case. I want to teach them a lesson." Julie looked shocked, but her eyes quickly diverted over Chris' shoulder.

"Teach them a lesson, huh?" Said a sharp, feminine voice. Chris turned to face the red haired girl from his first day. She was smiling. "I like the sound of that! Mind if I tag along?" Chris opened and closed his mouth a couple times in confusion, looked back at Julie, who shrugged, then back again.

"Uh, yeah, I guess that's fine, but, um… who are you?" Chris stuttered into asking. The red haired girl looked at him like he was crazy.

"Oh, Chris," Julie said, "I thought you knew. She's-" But she was cut off by the red haired girl laughing.

"No, Julie, don't, this is funny!" She chuckled. "Come on, kid, I wanna watch you take on the Nugget Bridge." Chris hurried to follow as she turned to leave.

"Wait! What are you talking about?" Chris asked as he followed the woman out the doors of the Center.

"You've been talking about taking on Nugget Bridge, I want to see you battle. And, be there to bail you out if you turn out to be all talk." She looked over her shoulder and winked.

"No, what's Nugget Bridge? I'm going to battle the trainers that are blocking the… Nugget Bridge, is that what the bridge is called?" Chris wondered aloud.

"Nope," the woman shook her head, "It's become a nickname lately because the trainers use the offer of a nugget of gold to tempt in otherwise meek trainers. Hence, Nugget Bridge." She explained.

"Okay. And, who are you, again?" Chris pressed. She looked at him again curiously.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Someone might even tell you."

The lady led Chris west, towards the entrance of the city, and up the slope that paved the way to the upper residential district of Cerulean City. Winding through the houses, the alleys fell in deep shadow as the late morning sun had failed to crest the tallest the tallest buildings. The stairs, leading up the raised bridge, stood in stark contrast as the sun cast deep shadows below the bridge.

Chris stopped at the foot of the stairs, staring up at them in preparation. The lady, behind him, stood quietly, seeming to understand that he was preparing himself. After a couple seconds, Chris took a deep breath, adopting his innocent face he took the first step.

"Yo!" Chris jumped at the voice coming from the top of the stairs. The poor lighting left the figure in silhouette, but it was one Chris recognized immediately. Yari, smirking, as always, waltzed down the stairs towards Chris.

"Chris! You're still struggling along back here?" Yari shook his head at Chris' apparent hopelessness.

"Yari, what are you doing here?" Chris asked.

"Doing? I'm doing great! Caught a bunch of strong and smart pokemon!" Yari appraised Chris haughtily, finely noticing the woman behind him. His expression grew suddenly serious. "What are you doing here, Chris? And, with the Cerulean City Gym Leader, no less." Chris started, spinning about to look at the lady, the Gym Leader.

"Told ya someone would tell ya." She shrugged. " Caterpie's outta the bag. I'm Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader, obviously. Your friend seems to do his research on his opponents." Chris shook off his surprise and returned his attention to Yari.

"I'm gonna take on the trainers at the top of the bridge, Yari. Gonna stop them from preying on any more unprepared trainers." Chris explained.

"Those wimps?" Yari scoffed, "I challenged the first couple, beat them silly, and then some guy offered to pay me to leave them alone! If they're preying on anyone, then it's people weak enough to deserve it." Yari's sneer as he appraised his rival made Chris bristle. "Maybe you're their ideal target. Here, let me see what you've caught, Chris!"

Yari started reaching for his wrist as he spoke, but Chris, frustrated, turned away to make space at the foot of the bridge.

"I'm not falling for another of your stupid tricks, Yari. If you want to battle then just come out and say it. Quit challenging me like a coward." His aggravated taunt made Yari lose his composure for a moment, growling with rage as he pulled out a pokeball.

"Fine, let's see what you've got!" he shouted, releasing his pokemon in a burst of light. Between was a large avian pokemon that looked a lot like Elly, but significantly bigger.

"What is that?" Chris asked. It was Misty, behind him, who answered.

"A pidgeotto, an evolved pidgey. They're significantly faster and more powerful, if not as nimble." Chris nodded in acknowledgment and pulled his own pokeball, tossing it forward to release Mickey. The nidoking stretched, then shook his spines with an intimidating roar.

"You're not the only one whose evolved his pokemon, Yari." Chris called out. Yari looked frustrated, he'd expected some growth, but not anything as powerful as a nidoking.

"Let's get started, then, Sand-attack!" Yari shouted. His pidgeotto lifted off the ground and started furiously beating its wings, kicking up a cloud of sand. Mickey brought his arms up, crossing his forearms in front of his face, blocking the sand.

"Leer it!" Chris called, and Mickey cracked his forearms apart, just enough to focus the red glow of his eyes on the pidgeotto. Its feathers pulsed as it shivered under the glare.

"Screw it, Quick Attack!" The pidgeotto took flight, climbing into the sky and circling away from Mickey.

"Be ready," Chris warned Mickey, "Wait until it can't dodge, then Horn Attack." Mickey nodded and set his stance, head lowered in preparation.

The pidgeotto did a somersault above them, tucking its wings in to dive dramatically, using gravity to add speed as a faint glow rippled over its form. Mickey followed it with his eyes, widening his feet in preparation, head lowering a bit more. Chris realized too late what his plan was.

"No!" Chris cried, but the pidgeotto's immense speed had already slammed it into Mickey, landing squarely on the back of his lowered head. Chris worried being hit in such a vulnerable spot would be catastrophic, but he underestimated a nidoking's armor. With a roar, Mickey threw his head back, startling the pidgeotto as he rammed his horn into the bird's vulnerable belly. It squawked in pain and flapped frantically to make space.

"That's ridiculous!" Yari shouted as his pidgeotto panted, its wings splayed weakly. "You're not gonna last much longer, Sand-attack! Help out your teammates!" With a determined huff, the pidgeotto started flapping, kicking up the sand again.

"End it now, Mickey, Tackle! Remember restraint!" Chris commanded, and Mickey charged boldly into the dust cloud. He didn't flinch as the sand kicked into his eyes, barreling through the otherside to connect with the pidgeotto, knocking it to the ground. As the dust settled, Yari returned his pokemon, looking dissatisfied. "You come back, too, Mickey. Clear your eyes."

As Mickey stomped over, rubbing his eyes, Chris looked over his team. Not sure what was coming next, he selected Dara's pokeball, hoping that in the worst case scenario she could put whoever Yari picked to sleep. She appeared in the customary light, stretching and squealing adorably. Yari threw his pokeball, releasing a strange, little, yellow and brown monkey that appeared to be sleeping already.

"What is that?" Chris wondered quietly, holding out his License to let it collect data for the Pokedex. While it processed, he ordered Dara into motion. "Let's play it safe, Dara, Sing!" Dara swelled her body and started singing.

"Teleport!" Yari called, smirking. With an audible pop, his pokemon disappeared, startling Dara and ending her song prematurely. With another pop, the pokemon appeared on Dara's head. With a startled cry, Dara turned to smack it.

"Take the chance, Dara, Pound!" The pokemon floated backwards, off Dara's head as she spun. A faint glow surrounded her paw as it struck the strange pokemon. It spun in the air, crying quietly as it took the damage, floating weightlessly above Dara. Chris looked on curiously when, with a pop, the pokemon disappeared, appearing again behind Yari. Yari shrugged.

"He's still a baby, just wanted to give him a chance to see a battle and use his power a bit. Consider him defeated." He pulled the pokeball and returned his little monkey pokemon. Misty, behind Chris, made a noise to draw their attention.

"Current League regulations require trainers to battle until either side has no usable pokemon left. Most trainers get around this by simply not carrying full teams with them, or saying they only have so many. Withdrawing your abra early would be allowed, but, since you've already sent it out, should all your other pokemon fall, you would be expected to use it." She pulled up her own License, decorated in aquatic motifs, and started pressing buttons. "However, in the last week, the League has issued a new proclamation. Trainers may declare to use only part of their team at the start of a battle, so as to avoid complete disqualification from the Gym Leader Challenge on a loss, and to offer an official solution to what trainers already do. In part to encourage trainers to start carrying more of their pokemon, and in part to allow more second chances.

"As this is a new proclamation, and under my power as a Pokemon League representative, I'll allow you to adjust your representative teams now. Furthermore, as this is not a public proclamation, yet, you are both required to tell no one of this until the official announcement is made. If you check your Licenses, you should see the prompt now."

Yari lifted his License, and Chris mirrored the motion. The screen was dominated by a layout of his team, a text box at the top reading, 'Select Your Team.' Chris realized that his goals would never align with the idea of sacrificing part of his team to save the rest. In order to do what he can to keep everyone alive, he needed everyone and to be able to share the burden between them. They needed to be able to protect each other and act as each other's shields. He quickly selected his whole team and met Yari's eyes, who had already finished.

"Well, that's settled, so let's keep going!" Yari called, throwing out a pokeball. A rattata appeared. Dara was still on the field, so the fight continued. "Use Quick Attack!" And the rattata gave a small hop before starting to zig-zag back and forth to build speed. It launched at Dara faster than the eye could follow, only leaving a fading afterimage. It collided with Dara, rolling them both back. But, when they came up, Dara was holding the struggling rodent.

"Nice, Dara! Sing!" Chris cheered. Being so close, the rattata had no chance against Dara's melody. It soon went limp in her grasp. "Let's take the opportunity. Dara come back, Gustavo, you're up!" Dara floated back as Chris returned her to her ball, and at the same moment threw Gustavo out.

"Come on, wake up!" Yari yelled, and his rattata started to stir.

"No time! Hyper Fang!" Ordered Chris, and Gustavo's fangs started to glow as he charged forward. "Restraint!" Chris cried just before impact. Gustavo hit, and Yari's rattata cried out as it rolled away. Chris caught his breath, but he saw no blood. Gustavo hadn't bit through, just enough to cause some damage. But, not enough, as the awakened rattata stood. "Finish it before it can recover, Quick Attack!"

Gustavo didn't need the build up speed like his opponent did, from a flat standstill he dashed forward to meet his opponent head on. A solid hit sent it rolling back again to slump against Yari's shins. It tried to raise itself, but failed and looked up at Yari, ashamed. Yari looked down on his pokemon, then callously returned it to its pokeball. Without a word, he selected a new pokeball and tossed it forward.

Chris took the opportunity to return Gustavo, waiting a half second to see who Yari had chosen. The pokeball's light coalesced into his starter, now bigger and apparently evolved. The bulb on its back had opened to reveal a flower bud, unopened. Chris reasoned that he wouldn't resort to his starter if he'd had anything else in reserve. He chose the best counter he had.

"Go, Lesle, time to wrap this up!" Lesle appeared with a cry and an aggressive flutter of her wings.

"Razor Leaf!" Yari grunted. He seemed shaken by the fight, so far.

His pokemon spread its feet to plant itself, starting to shake its bud back and forth. Leaves started to float from its back, hovering about before it gave a quick spin that somehow sent the leaves flying towards Lesle. Tucking her wings in, Lesle spiraled down and away from the barrage,

"Good work. Sleep Powder!" Chris commanded. Lesle caught herself out of her freefall and fluttered over top of Yari's starter. Glittering particles started to fall from her, coating the pokemon as its eyes started to droop. After a moment, and a second pass of soporific powder, the pokemon curled into a ball, asleep.

"Damn it!" Yari cried, frustration boiling over.

"Confusion, Lesle, let's finish this!" Chris said. Lesle's eyes started to glow red. Yari's pokemon began to stir in its sleep, and Chris could hear a ringing in his ears that seemed to signify it was working.

"Wake up, you idiot!" Yari frantically called, "Get up!" His voice cracked. The attack continued. "Hey! Take it easy! You won already!"

After several more seconds, Chris called Lesle back, certain that Yari's pokemon was subdued, but not permanently injured. He returned Lesle to her pokeball and approached Yari. He realized, suddenly, that his team had hardly taken any damage, but Yari's team had been dominated from the start. Yari must have been bottling all that frustration in until he simply couldn't contain it anymore.

Chris tried to think of something to say, but he was feeling conflicted. On one hand, he'd just defeated the taunting, pompous, rude braggart that'd been heckling him for weeks, now. On the other, he'd just stomped a fellow trainer, callously and efficiently. Did he really want to crush another trainer's spirit? Did that make him no better than the Nugget Bridge trainers he was going to confront?

Yari stood quietly for a moment, but when Chris approached Yari leveled a glare on him before turning away with a flip of his hair.

"Hey, guess what?" Yari said in a strange tone, looking back over the bridge, "I went to Bill's and got him to show me his rare pokemon! That added a lot of pages to my Pokedex! After all, Bill's world famous as a Pokemaniac! He invented the Pokemon Storage System on the PC! Since you're using his system, go thank him! Well, I better get rolling! Smell ya later!" And, with that, he turned to leave, walking down the path back towards the Center.

Chris could tell he was covering his emotions, but what emotions exactly was harder to puzzle out. Chris watched Yari walk away until he turned the corner and disappeared. Misty approached him, coughing softly to shake him from his thoughts.

"That was a good battle." She said, "You were in control pretty much the whole time. I think you'll be able to handle the Nugget Bridge just fine. I'm gonna go check on your friend, though. I think he's gonna need it." She took a couple steps away before turning back. "Oh, and on that new League rule. I'd expect to start seeing people field incomplete teams in the next couple days. A lot of people are gonna start hedging their bets." And, then she followed Yari, disappearing down the path.

Chris took a deep breath and turned north, to face Nugget Bridge.


End file.
